Noy urged to take action vs extrajudicial killings

MANILA, Philippines - An international rights group has asked President Aquino to take decisive action against torture and extrajudicial killings by police and other state security forces.

In its World Report 2015, Human Rights Watch said the administration took some important steps in 2014 to improve the rule of law.

“But the government’s overall record in addressing serious human-rights violations remained poor.”

Last November, the Department of Justice (DOJ) implicated police officers in the torture and ill-treatment – including near suffocation and stapling of nipples and genitals – of suspects following the September 2013 attack by Islamist militants on   Zamboanga City.

Phelim Kine, Human Rights Watch deputy Asia director, said the administration needs to ensure that police officers responsible for serious abuses are thoroughly investigated and prosecuted.

“Ending the culture of impunity for police torture should be a top priority for Aquino in his final two years in office,” Kine said.

In the 656-page world report, its 25th edition, Human Rights Watch reviews human-rights practices in more than 90 countries.

In his introductory essay, executive director Kenneth Roth urged governments to recognize that human rights offer an effective moral guide in turbulent times, and that violating rights can spark or aggravate serious security challenges.

The short-term gains of undermining core values of freedom and non-discrimination are rarely worth the long-term price.

The report noted that positive measures by the administration included the creation of “justice zones” where criminal cases, warrants and subpoenas are filed electronically as a means to accelerate court proceedings that have stranded thousands of suspects in prolonged pre-trial detention.

“The government also achieved a success against impunity with its August 2014 arrest of retired army general Jovito Palparan, who is implicated in the alleged enforced disappearances of activists in 2006,” read the report.