PHL gets ‘special mention’ in Amnesty International annual report

The Philippines received a special mention in Amnesty International's annual report on the state of the world's human rights for 2016 to 2017.

"For the first time since the Martial Law years, the Philippines is a special mention in the Foreword section of the report," said Amnesty International Philippines head Jose Noel Olano at a press forum on Wednesday.

"Specifically, merong ilang paragraphs doon where yung tinatawag na anti-development heads of state including President [Donald] Trump, prime minister [Viktor] Orbán from Hungary, prime minister [Narendra] Modi of India and President [Recep Tayyip] Erdogan of Turkey. Napasama doon si President [Rodrigo] Duterte," Olano said.

He said the aforementioned leaders "rode the 'rhetoric of hate' and 'us against them'" mentality, and discarded human rights.

"Nakakabahala kasi yung reports ay 159 countries, and then we are parang in the special mention. Parang lumalabas serious ang situation natin sa human rights," Olano added.

Olano also said that the Philippines warranted a special mention in the report due to recent extrajudicial killings, which AI is particularly concerned about.

"May magic number tayo eh, it's almost 8,000 and I think that prompted [the mention], said AI Philippines co-founder Wilnor Papa.

Amnesty International secretary general Salil Shetty wrote in a statement, "Divisive fear-mongering has become a dangerous force in world affairs. Whether it is Trump, Orban, Erdogan or Duterte, more and more politicians calling themselves anti-establishment are wielding a toxic agenda that hounds, scapegoats and dehumanizes entire groups of people."

"Today's politics of demonization shamelessly peddles a dangerous idea that some people are less human than others, stripping away the humanity of entire groups of people. This threatens to unleash the darkest aspects of human nature,"  Shetty added.

Regarding the Philippines, AI pointed to reports of torture, ill-treatment and excessive use of force by the police; abuses made by armed groups; the killing of human rights defenders; the reinstatement of death penalty; and unlawful killings of alleged drug offenders under the administrations of former President Benigno Aquino and incumbent President Rodrigo Duterte.

"The AI report on extra-judicial executions made several recommendations to President Duterte, the Senate, the House of Representatives, the PNP [Philippine National Police], and the DOJ [Department of Justice] to immediately conduct an independent, impartial, and effective investigation into the executions, prosecute and provide remedy," Olano said.

"To date, while the DOJ Secretary has announced the creation of a Task Force, there is little evidence that suggests serious investigations are being undertaken," he added.

Drug war deaths and criminal liability

Asked about Senate Resolution No. 282, filed by Senator Francis Escudero seeking a probe into Amnesty's earlier report on drug-related killings, Olano said, "As of the moment, we haven't received any notice on the the inquiry into the report."

In the earlier report of AI, it stated that drug-related killings in the country seem to be "systematic, planned and organized" by authorities.

Meanwhile, on the proposal to lower the age of criminal liability to nine, Papa said, "The Philippines is a signatory to the convention of the rights of a child and succeeding protocols including yung protocol on the ending use of child soldiers, and meron ding mga batas na juvenile justice act where we can considered it as human rights-compliant."

He added, "Ang problema po sa pagbababa ay we're going against the trend all over the world at yung pagkilala doon sa karapatan ng isang bata. Nagpapataw tayo ng malaki ng responsibilidad doon sa mga bata na ang level ng pagintindi ay hindi pa gaano developed.

"Amnesty International is opposed to the proposal to lower the age of criminal responsibility. It is also opposed to the proposal to bring back capital punishment that will also zero in on children." — BM, GMA News