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THE Philippines, along with other countries, gets
another scolding from the US State Department for its record on
human rights compliance. The latest State Department annual report,
focusing on 2007 violations, says Manila is less than punctilious in
honoring the civil rights and human liberties of Filipinos.
The most serious violations, the
US government says, relate to arbitrary, unlawful arrests and
extrajudicial and political killings. In more than 13,000 words, the
section on the Philippines details numerous cases of summary
killings, kidnappings, torture and psychological abuse on suspects
and persons in detention.
Who were the major perpetrators?
Members of the Armed Forces, the National Police and paramilitary
units. The report did not overlook the abuses committed by the New
People’s Army, the Abu Sayyaf terror group and renegade insurgent
and secessionist battalions.
Corruption also crept into the
criminal justice system, including prosecution, prisons and the
courts. Violence against women and children, child prostitution,
trafficking in persons, child labor and poor enforcement of worker
rights were common, the report says.
The report recognizes the steps
taken by the Arroyo government to step up its investigation and
prosecution of cases of extrajudicial killings, including the
Supreme Court’s pathbreaking rule on the writ of amparo. It notes
that many of the killings went unsolved despite efforts of the
government to prosecute these cases.
The State Department says 10
“countries in which power was concentrated in the hands of
unaccountable rulers remained the world’s most systematic human
rights violators.” The top 10 are North Korea, Myanmar, Iran,
Syria Zimbabwe, Cuba, Belarus, Uzbekistan, Eritrea and Sudan.
China’s “overall human rights
record remained poor” in 2007 but the US dropped Beijing from its
list of the world’s worst violators for no clear reason.
The 2007 report, as expected,
does not cite human rights violations by the US government.
Washington, DC—with its vast network of military, intelligence,
defense and security apparatus—has been accused of numerous rights
abuses, ranging from widespread use of capital punishment,
ill-treatment of foreign prisoners (which include renditions and
waterboarding) and violations of privacy and freedom under the
Homeland Security Act.
The world celebrates this month
the 60th year of the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights. The
State Department report is a reminder that civil liberties and human
freedoms are under constant attack around the world. The report
however should have included a supplementary annex on rights abuses
in the Land of the Free.
Our Chinese visitors
SOME of our senators have
insisted that Chinese Em-bassy officials in Manila be invited to the
national broadband hearing to shed light on the controversy. Of
course their call, a violation of protocol, will not prosper.
They believe the broadband deal
was tainted with bribery and felt some of the diplomats had
knowledge about the grease money. Betraying their ignorance of
international law, they said that the diplomats’ testimony would
be instructive for all.
On Tuesday a visiting top
official of the Communist Party of China (CPC) affirmed that it is
the policy of Premier Wen Jiabao and the CPC that all Chinese
business firms should comply with the domestic laws in the countries
where they do business.
CPC International Department Vice
Minister Liu Hongcai made the affirmation in frank and cordial
discussions on the ZTE-NBN deal and the Spratlys controversy with
the leaders of the Philippine Liberal Party.
Senior LP leaders led by Sen. Mar
Roxas and the CPC delegation headed by Liu met for breakfast at a
Pasay City hotel Tuesday. The visitors had requested the meeting.
The party officials had visited
to check charges of corruption surrounding big business deals with
the Philippine government, including the national broadband network
project.
China is actively fighting
corruption in the public and private sectors. President Hu Jintao
considers graft one of the biggest threats to the legitimacy and
survival of the communist party and the central government.
The visit takes place at a time
when the Senate is probing the history of the broadband contract and
the alleged payoffs related to its approval before it was aborted.
The Chinese officials wanted to be apprised of the progress of the
inquiry.
During the meeting, the two
leaders agreed to help promote closer ties between the two parties
and to help strengthen economic, cultural and political bonds. Liu
invited Roxas, as LP president, to visit China in the near future.
The CPC delegation included Asian
Bureau of the International Department Director-General Ail Ping and
directors Zhang Xuyi and Rao Huihua.
The group paid a courtesy call on
Senate President Manny Villar and House Speaker Prospero Nograles.
He told the visitors that relations between Manila and Beijing
“remain strong and are even getting better despite the political
ripples that blur the local political landscape.”
“They understand very well the
LP position that we must hold our own government officials
accountable for anomalies or incompetence attendant to the ZTE-NBN
and Spratlys controversies,” Roxas said.
He expressed the hope the
controversies would emphasize the need for greater transparency in
bilateral agreements with China and with other countries.
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