AFP in denial on killings, human rights abuse, claims Amnesty International

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO— Amnesty International is drawing up a list of alleged perpetrators of human rights violations in the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP)  to track down how the military is fulfilling its promise to protect human rights, AI country director Aurora Parong said.

The list, she said, is also being prepared after President Aquino failed to create a Presidential Accountability Commission (PAC) and achieved no improvement in jailing government soldiers and policemen involved in extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, torture and other forms of attacks on human rights.

To their credit, she said the AFP and the Philippine National Police produced modules on human rights laws and policies.

“But some leaders of the AFP are still on a denial mode. They don’t want to acknowledge that some of their personnel have violated human rights using counter-insurgency to justify their actions,” Parong said.

“The [Philippine National Police’s] Task Force Usig at least admitted having cases possibly involving several policemen,” she said.

The list would be presented to Mr. Aquino, and those whose names appear on it would be accorded due process, Parong said.

Parong and Fr. Eddie Panlilio, chair of the human rights advocate group Defend-Central Luzon, urged the Aquino administration to act on human rights violations in the region.

Of the 305 cases and 390 victims of extrajudicial killings recorded from 2001 to August 2010, Central Luzon had the most with 62 cases and 72 victims, a study by the United States Agency for International Development and the Asia Foundation said.

“President Aquino has no policy direction where it concerns human rights,” Panlilio said on Monday.

The first torture case under the Aquino administration, allegedly done nine months ago by Pampanga policemen on Lenin Salas and his four companions who were suspected to be communist rebels, has yet to be resolved.

The anti-torture law fixed the period of preliminary investigation to six months, said Aurora Broquil, Defend-CL vice chair.

Based on AI’s assessment, Mr. Aquino fared poorly in most of the 26 human rights action points presented to him at the start of his term.

Parong pressed for the creation of the PAC, which aims to ensure the investigation and prosecution of cases of political killings, enforced disappearances and torture.

She said Mr. Aquino should “make human rights the center  piece of his administration’s legacy” by formulating and implementing a strategic plan or road map on how to deliver justice to victims.