Paris-Manila, 13 March 2007 - The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the Philippine Alliance of Human Rights Advocates (PAHRA), its member organization in the Philippines, express their deep concern about the assassination of the witness of an extrajudicial killing, who had submitted her testimony to the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial killings on the occasion of his visit to the Philippines, last month.

The following is the statement of Professor Philip Alston, the Special Rapporteur of the United Nations Human Rights Council on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions

I have spent the past ten days in the Philippines at the invitation of the Government in order to inquire into the phenomenon of extrajudicial executions. I am very grateful to the Government for the unqualified cooperation extended to me. During my stay here I have met with virtually all of the relevant senior officials of Government. They include the President, the Executive Secretary, the National Security Adviser, the Secretaries for Defense, Justice, DILG and the Peace Process. I have also met with a significant number of members of Congress on different sides of the political spectrum, the Chief Justice, the Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), the Chair of the Human Rights Commission, the Ombudsman, the members of both sides of the Joint Monitoring Committee, and representatives of the MNLF and MILF. Of particular relevance to my specific concerns, I also met with Task Force Usig, and with the Melo Commission, and I have received the complete dossier compiled by TF Usig, as well as the report of the Melo Commission, and the responses to its findings by the AFP and by retired Maj-Gen Palparan. I have also visited Baguio and Davao and met with the regional Human Rights Commission offices, local PNP and AFP commanders, and the Mayor of Davao, among others.

20 February 2007: the Congress of the Philippines, convened for a special session called by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, adopted yesterday the Anti-Terrorism Bill.

“We are deeply concerned about the adoption of that new legislation”, said Sidiki Kaba, President of FIDH. “This new piece of legislation, widely opposed by the Filipino civil society, does not provide for the necessary human rights safeguards”, he added.

The Bill, pending in the Congress since several years, has been relabelled ‘Act to Secure the State and Protect our People from Terrorism’ otherwise known as the Human Security Act of 2007.  The final version shows some improvements with regard to previous drafts.

It is no secret that the calling for a Special Session in Congress is aimed at railroading the passage of an “ANTI-TERROR BILL” currently disguised as the proposed “Human Security Act of 2007.”  We know for a fact that since September 2001 many States have adopted new counter-terrorism measures that are in violation of their international obligations. The global climate of insecurity has been exploited to justify human rights violations carried out in the name of national security.