Joint Statement of the Independent
Observers in the Peace Negotiations between the GRP and the NDFP
Posted: July 15, 2007
We, the independent
observers of the Joint Monitoring Committee (JMC) that monitors the
compliance of the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP)
and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) with the
Comprehensive Agreement for the Respect of Human Rights and
International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL) came together for a meeting
held on June 29, 2007 in Los Baños, Laguna.
We shared our
respective readings of the national situation after the release of the
Alston and the Melo Commission reports and in the context of the
announced implementation on July 15, 2007 of the Human Security Act of
2007 (HSA 2007) or the anti-terror law.
We have noted that the
UN Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary
Executions, Mr. Philip Alston, who was invited by the GRP to visit the
Philippines, investigated the cases of extrajudicial executions and
issued a preliminary report to the effect that "many of the cases of
summary executions are largely attributed to state security forces."
We have likewise noted that the Melo Commission came out with a report
indicating that "there is circumstantial evidence to support the
proposition that some elements within or connected to the military are
responsible for the killings." Both reports note that the majority of
the victims are associated with the so-called left-wing organizations.
Despite the findings
of the Alston and Melo Reports that have been echoed by numerous other
international investigative missions that came to the country - the
killings and enforced disappearances of persons associated with the
Left and those labeled as members of "front organizations" continue to
this day.
While welcoming the
recent initiative of Chief Justice Reynato S. Puno to call for a
National Consultative Summit on Extra-Judicial Killings and Enforced
Disappearances, we view with grave concern the impending
implementation of the HSA of 2007.
We agree with the
position of Mr. Martin Scheinin, UN Special Rapporteur on the
Protection and Promotion of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms
While Countering Terrorism, who urged the government to have a
"further debate which may result in the introduction of specific
amendments or repeal of the entire Act by the new Congress… since
implementation of this law could have a negative impact on human
rights in the country and undermine the rule of law."
We agree with the
Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) who urged the
government to review the law. Its inconsistency with the Bill of
Rights stipulated in the 1987 Philippine Constitution and to the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) is
worth-reflecting on.
We express our
profound concern for the safety of the personnel of the Secretariat of
the Joint Monitoring Committee of the NDFP as well as the other
consultants and resource persons nominated by the NDFP in the peace
negotiations once the HSA of 2007 takes effect as they are very
vulnerable to be labeled as communists and be subjected to attacks as
has happened to several victims of extrajudicial executions.
As observers in the
peace process, we believe that the HSA of 2007 will further prejudice
the peace negotiations or completely end the entire peace process
between the GRP and the NDFP. When this happens, the internal conflict
can only become more critical and can result in even more human rights
violations and more victims.
We, therefore, urge
the Government to indefinitely postpone the implementation of the HSA
until it can be thoroughly reviewed and possibly amended or repealed
by Congress. Finally, we once again appeal to the GRP and NDFP to go
back to the negotiating table.
The HSA of 2007 will
not offer solutions to the country's homegrown insurgencies that have
deep socio-economic and political roots in the lives of the people.
(Sgd.) BISHOP TOMAS MILLAMENA (Sgd.) MS.
MERCEDES C. DANENBERG
(Sgd.) MS. MARIE H. ENRIQUEZ (Sgd.)
MS. MARY AILEEN D. BACALSO
