AFP on rights story: Old issue

MANILA, Philippines - A report from North Carolina that the Armed Forces lost more than $13 million in US aid since 2008 for failing to improve its human rights record is a rehash of old issues, the military said yesterday.

Armed Forces spokesman Col. Restituto Padilla said the issues contained in the report of North Carolina-based human rights watchdog Ecumenical Advocacy Network on the Philippines (EANP) have been addressed a long time ago.

“We are also not aware of any aid that has been put on hold,” he said.

Padilla said the US has vowed to help the Philippines improve its security capabilities.

“The Philippines and US defense and military alliance remains strong, with the US affirming its commitment to assist the Armed Forces of the Philippines in its capability development the way the AFP may desire to and in a manner consistent with US laws,” he said.

“The alliance also remains relevant and cooperation between the two countries has never been this good.”

Padilla said the Armed Forces is stepping up measures to promote respect for human rights among its ranks.

“The AFP is among the best in the world that has adopted within its professional military training and education system a consistent and responsive human rights awareness and training regimen,” he said.

These trainings are given to recruits from the point of entry into the service and throughout their training courses, Padilla said.

Commission on Human Rights (CHR) spokesman Marc Titus Cebreros said the Philippines has a better human rights climate under President Aquino.

“However, the government must do more in terms of ending impunity,” he said.

Cebreros said the recent US Senate committee report on enhanced interrogation techniques of the Central Intelligence Agency has put a lot of pressure on the US government to reaffirm its human rights commitments, especially concerning its relationships with allies like the Philippines.

“We hope that this development would further convince the administration of President Aquino, along with the security sector, of the need to invest more time and resources on concrete human rights deliverables,” he said.

The government must arrest and convict human rights violators and eliminate torture and hazing, Cebreros said.

Speaking during the commemoration of International Human Rights Day,

CHR Chairman Loretta Ann Rosales noted a “gawking chasm” between human rights aspirations and the reality on the ground.

“Even today people still complain of insecurity and fear within their communities against abuse of authority by state actors, including local government officials, prison officials, the police and the military,” she said.

“While enforced disappearances are much reduced from the past, they still remain a threat. The same holds true for arbitrary killings that victimize not only the critics of government but with greater frequency to petty criminal offenders, many of them minors or living on the street.”

In its report, EANP said the US Congress has expressed “serious concerns” about the military’s lack of progress on human rights.

US lawmakers were also reluctant to approve the $1.1-trillion US budget for 2015 allocating $50 million in credits for the Armed Forces to buy firearms, EANP added.

The funding can only be released if the AFP prosecutes soldiers involved in human rights violation, implements a policy that promotes professionalism and respect for human rights, and ensures that its troops are not intimidating and harming journalists and human rights defenders.

EANP said 152 activists have been killed, while 18 others have disappeared since Aquino assumed office in 2010.

Not one mastermind has been convicted, EANP added. – With Janvic Mateo