Amnesty protests killings, torture, disappearances in Philippines

Manila - More than 100 Amnesty International activists took to the streets in the Philippine capital on Sunday to call for an end to extrajudicial killings, disappearances and torture in the country. The activists, wearing yellow cardboard masks with various messages, marched to a monument in Manila and demanded the government 'break the chain of impunity and deliver justice to victims of human rights abuses.' 'Amnesty International members are fighting for individuals whose voices were silenced by extrajudicial killing, bodies and minds shattered by torture or ill treatment and lives forgotten when they disappeared,' Aurora Parong, director of Amnesty International Philippines, said in a speech. Parong added that activists, journalists and ordinary people 'are still in serious peril, at risk of being abducted, tortured or killed' despite efforts by various groups to call on the government for action. According to local human rights group Karapatan, nearly 1,000 people have become victims of extra-judicial killings in the Philippines from January 2001 to December 2008. More than 200 people have also disappeared and believed to have been tortured and killed allegedly by government security forces. The victims are mostly political activists, journalists, labour leaders and human rights workers. Amnesty noted that many of the cases were never brought to court due to lack of evidence or because witnesses were unable to step forward due to fear of reprisals. 'Families of victims or survivors themselves are afraid to come out in the open because of the desperate situation of witness protection in the Philippines,' Parong noted. 'As of now, there is no assurance that the families or victims will have the law on their side,' she added. 'The Department of Justice has to immediately correct the weaknesses in the protection of witnesses or families of victims.' Arroyo has ordered investigations into extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances in the Philippines following mounting criticism from foreign governments and international organizations. But activists said Arroyo's actions were not enough, and have called on her to take more active steps, such as sacking military and police officers and officials accused of being involved in the attacks.