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Davao City, Philippines,
29 January 2009
delivered by
LEILA M. DE LIMA
Chairperson
Good morning.
The Commission on Human Rights of the Philippines together with the Philippine Judicial Academy welcomes all of you to this Multi-Sectoral and Skills-Building Seminar Workshop on Human Rights Issues, with particular focus on Extralegal Killings and Enforced Disappearances.
The issues of extralegal killings and enforced disappearances remain a specter in the national consciousness. While other issues like the global economic recession and persistent Senate inquiries inundate the headlines, underneath, the battle to quell extralegal killings and enforced disappearances continues. The latter may not be as arresting and attention-grabbing. Yet, the struggle to eliminate this scourge is not based on its fickle urgency as portrayed in media. For as long as there are persons missing and justice for these crimes remains unattained, and bereaved families of those lost, disconsolate, then our work remains undone and incomplete.
The rampant incidence of these crimes of impunity has forced the hand of the Philippine government to heed the clamor of civil society and yield to international pressure. It has taken bold steps on all fronts to address these crimes. Not the least among these steps is the effort initiated by the Supreme Court, through the Philippine Judicial Academy and the Commission on Human Rights, to deliver the much needed knowledge, skills and tools to you, the participants of this workshop on EJKs and Enforced Disappearances.
Cases of extralegal killings and enforced disappearances, are not simple cases of murder, kidnapping and assault and physical injury. These are crimes that are committed against our national soul. It tugs at the nobility of the Filipino race, a race that prides itself in hospitality, gentleness, gender awareness, communitarianism, a sense of family, deference towards elders, it treasures its children and nourishes its heritage. These crimes have no place in a civilized country such as ours.
The obligation to protect persons from EJKs and Enforced Disappearances has long been in existence and it transcends our own law. This obligation and duty to uphold human rights is valued by all nations as one community. In the realm of International Law, the Philippines is a state-party to all eight (8) core Human Rights Instruments. Of the eight, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), which entered into force on 23 March 1976 , is fundamental to our campaign against these crimes of impunity. Article 6, paragraph 1 of the ICCPR reads, “ Every human being has the inherent right to life. ”
Enshrined as well in the ICCPR are the right to life, liberty and security of persons, the protection of an individual’s physical integrity, procedural fairness, the right to self-determination, individual freedom of belief, speech, association, freedom of press, right to hold assembly and the right to political participation, among others. In civilized nations, these protections leave no room for the crimes of enforced disappearances and extralegal killings. In fact, those are among the non-derogable rights under international human rights law.
The United Nations Human Rights Committee considers that State parties should take measures not only to prevent and punish deprivation of life and liberty by criminal and unlawful elements, but also prevent arbitrary killing by their own security forces. Thus, “the deprivation of life by the authorities of the State is a matter of utmost gravity” (General Comment No. 6, paragraph 1, ICCPR). However, the perpetration of crime of impunity should be no less revolting when committed by non-State elements.
We look forward to more refined instruments on extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances, through the ratification of the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (OPCAT) , the ASEAN Charter and the Rome Statute. Additionally, we must urge the Government to sign the Convention against Enforced Disappearance and to actively participate in the adoption of an Optional Protocol to the ICESCR.
In the realm of our own forum law, we, however, are not without our own means to carry out the campaign against extralegal killings and enforced disappearances and torture. Our own Constitution, in broad strokes, declares that “[t]he State values the dignity of every human person and guarantees full respect for human rights” (Sec. 11, Art. II, Philippine Constitution). Further, the Constitution declares that, “The maintenance of peace and order, the protection of life liberty and property, and the promotion of the general welfare are essential for the enjoyment by all the people of the blessings of democracy”, and “The prime duty of the Government is to serve and protect the people.” (Section 5, Art. II, and Section 4, Article II, supra)
The blanket duty of the Government, thus, in protecting the people, extends to preventing both agents of the Government and members of unlawful armed groups from perpetrating crimes of impunity. We must be on guard on all fronts because these crimes are abhorrent no matter who the perpetrators are.
From 2001 to the present, there have been six hundred six (606) reported cases on alleged extralegal or political killings involving seven hundred seventy-three (773) victims, almost eighteen percent (18%) of which occurred in region eleven. The most mysterious serial killings occur here in Davao , in large part due to the inscrutably secret Davao Death Squad.
The statistics are difficult to procure on vigilante-style killings because cases of this nature cannot be classified with reasonable certainty as State-sponsored killings or as simple criminality within police jurisdiction. However, the sheer number of unverified reports emanating from Metro Cebu and Metro Davao has drawn the attention of the Commission.
The Commission has already issued an invitation to Mayor Duterte of Davao City to discuss the possible interventions that can be done collaboratively to address these killings.
Consistent with the dismal national record of successful prosecutions, vigilante-style killings alleged to be State-sponsored remain unsolved.
As Professor Philip Alston, the Special Rapporteur on extralegal, summary or arbitrary executions, had observed in 2007, the measures taken by the Philippine Government to address these crimes are encouraging, but at the time, there had been exactly zero convictions . Recently, Task Force 211, formed by the Office of the President, sent a letter to the Commission, announcing the successful prosecution of an extralegal killings-related case, resulting in a conviction. It has yet to be verified by the Commission, but to give them the benefit of the doubt, we had scored one victory.
One Conviction. It represents barely a tenth of one percent of all cases. It is this staggering number that must serve as a reminder that no number of laws, forum or international, will deter the commission of extralegal killings or enforced disappearances if no one, whether from government or unlawful armed groups, will be held accountable in the courts of law.
To address our country’s dismal record in delivering justice to victims of these crimes, the Commission on Human Rights has always been eager to work on the front lines of human rights cases in cooperation with all of you. The Third Commission, under the leadership of former Chairperson Purification C. Valera-Quisumbing has brought about tremendous international support and funding to improve on the investigation, monitoring and advocacy functions of the Commission. The launch of the investigation module of the Martus-based Executive Information System is a landmark development in expedited regional reporting to the central office in Manila . Also credited to the last Commission, is the drive to train the Commission’s battery of lawyers and investigators to produce litigation-ready reports. Last, but not least, is the former Chairperson’s endeavor to create an independent forensic laboratory to aid in the investigations of human rights violations. These breakthroughs of the last Commission under the former Chairperson serve as both an inspiration and a challenge to the current Commission to improve on the successes we have gained in the realm of human rights.
However, more has to be done. You, the judges, public prosecutors, human rights advocates, the military, police and legal practitioners, you yourselves must despise these crimes and feverishly work to bring the perpetrators to justice. You must all be stakeholders in the promotion and advocacy of human rights. Judges must employ a surgical and moderated sense of judicial activism, to creatively and effectively carry out the spirit and letter of the rules on the Writs of Amparo and Habeas Corpus. Moreover, Courts must expedite the resolution of cases involving these crimes. Prosecutors and legal practitioners must, in the words of former Senator Salonga, carry out a “speedy, honest, competent and independent prosecution” of these cases. The police must improve on the procedures for investigation and gathering of evidence to prevent dismissal of complaints on the grounds of insufficient or improperly procured evidence. The members of the Armed Forces must abide by the chain-of-command and at all levels in the AFP hierarchy, faithfully perform their mandate to protect the Filipino people, and prevent human rights abuses from within and outside your ranks.
It is through cooperation with one another that we in the Commission hope to fulfill our mandate to protect and promote human rights, and for all of you to fulfill your duty to protect the Filipino people and deliver justice.
Over a year ago, at the close of the National Consultative Summit on Extrajudicial Killings and Enforced Disappearances, Chief Justice Reynato Puno congratulated the participants from a vast array of concerned sectors of society by declaring the Summit “a success as it resulted in a bountiful harvest of recommendations”. The “prodigious input[s]” had contributed to a “translation of an idea into reality”.
The reality remains, however, that none of us know if we are any closer to solving extralegal killings and enforced disappearances. The translation [to reality] of the idea that these crimes are morally repugnant must transcend all these fora, workshops, conferences and summits on extralegal killings and enforced disappearances, well before we are caught up in our own long-windedness and convoluted language.
Now that there are audacious efforts to bring these crimes into the nation’s consciousness, into your consciousness, the surest way to lose sight of our purpose is to be paralyzed by our own ennui, to be anesthetized by a long history of unsolved, covert violence.
What comes, now, that is of tremendous importance is not so much the competent, technical instruction you will receive over the course of this workshop; rather, it is what you do afterwards. As cliché and trite as it may sound, the time to act is now, and it has long been overdue.