Winding up a 10-day "needs assessment mission" to look into the extra-judicial killings in the country, the European group headed by European Union Ambassador Alistair Macdonald offered today "technical assistance" to the government in the investigation of extrajudicial killings, the prosecution of the suspects and witness protection.
MANILA — week after GMA-7 news revealed the existence of what appeared to be Palace directives on extrajudicial killings of activists, the umbrella group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan called on the Arroyo government to make a full public disclosure of the controversial ?Operation Bluetooth? and other similar issuances that may have come from top cabinet and military officials.
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MANILA — While the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) welcomes the European Union’s (EU) 10-day mission to the Philippines, it also warns the EU against simply acceding to the Arroyo government’s request for so-called technical assistance to put a stop to extrajudicial killings in the country.
Torture victims in the Philippines have suffered from the physical
and mental pain inflicted on them by those who have mercilessly
tortured them and have suffered a second time from the lack of a law
criminalising torture. For years, torture victims in the country have
been waiting for redress and a legal tool they can use to prosecute
their torturers. Even filing complaints supported with substantial
proof and medical evidence to support torture claims are later found
to be a meaningless exercise by victims and their legal counsel.
Because torture is not a criminal offence under the
Philippines’ penal code, torture victims can file a complaint,
but usually it makes little or no progress in the court system, if it
even reaches the courts. It can even take prosecutors years—for
instance, 11 years in one case—without resolving a complaint.
Often those accused are able to retire or commit similar offences
again and again without being held accountable for their violent
actions.
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