Dutch Lawyers Ask
Arroyo to Form New Probe Body
A group of Dutch
lawyers is urging President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to form another
investigative body that would look into the extra-judicial killings of
activists, including lawyers and judges in the Philippines. The Melo
Commission, they said, “lacks the powers, independence and credibility
necessary to do its work effectively.”
BY BULATLAT
A group of Dutch
lawyers is urging President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to form another
investigative body that would look into the extra-judicial killings of
activists, including lawyers and judges in the Philippines.
In an open letter
to Mrs. Arroyo on Jan. 26, the Netherlands-based Lawyers for Lawyers
Foundation said the Melo Commission, formed last August by the President
to investigate the killings of activists and journalists, “lacks the
powers, independence and credibility necessary to do its work
effectively.”
The letter was
signed by Judith Lichtenberg, executive director, of the Foundation.
The Dutch
foundation also expressed its concern over President Arroyo’s failure to
address the killings of lawyers and judges in the country, saying the
resulting “culture of impunity” brings to question whether the
Philippine situation “can still be considered a democracy based on the
rule of law.”
“Lawyers for
Lawyers considers it unacceptable that your government has failed to
address the extra-judicial killings and the wave of violence,” the
letter said. Quoting the results of the international fact-finding
mission of lawyers and judges in June 2006, the group urged Arroyo “to
leave no stone unturned in investigating the serious allegations that
its own security forces are involved in the killings and to constitute
and fully support an independent body, not controlled by the government,
to investigate the killings, threats and harassment.
It cited the recent
killing of Judge Nathaniel Pattugalan who was shot dead by
motorcycle-riding men on Jan. 19, and the ambush-killings in late 2006
of human rights lawyers Gil Gojol on Dec. 12, Froiland Siobal on Nov. 19
and Leonito Tapel on Dec. 2.
To date, no
perpetrator has been arrested in connection with the killings
particularly of lawyers and judges. The group said the two
government-formed investigative bodies, the Melo Commission and Task
Force Usig of the Philippine National Police, have failed to show
independence and credibility, especially among human rights
organizations and civil society.
The Melo body,
which is headed by former Supreme Court Associate Justice Jose Melo,
finished its work in December last year and was expected to report its
finding to Mrs. Arroyo in the first week of January this year. So far,
however, its findings have not been made public.
PNP reports
Instead of relying
on its own investigation, the Commission has relied mainly on the
reports of Task Force Usig which, the Foundation said, “has not proven
to be an independent body: It is chaired by the PNP which has a poor
record as far as the effective investigation of the killings is
concerned and which is mistrusted by the Philippine people.”
The Philippine
government has the legal and moral obligation to treat the families of
the victims humanely and to institute effective witness protection
mechanisms. The Melo Commission, however, has no power to ensure that
witnesses are protected, the Foundation further said. The Commission
cannot convince witnesses and victims’ families to testify “out of fear
for retaliation of the military and the police,” it added.
It is
disappointing, the Foundation said, that the Arroyo government has not
adequately taken into account the guidelines and principles that Amnesty
International believes would “help ensure the credibility and
effectiveness of its [the Melo Commission] efforts and recommendations”.
These guidelines and principles are based on UN Principles and a
memorandum containing them was handed to Mrs. Arroyo on Sept. 14,
2006.
The lawyers’ group
urged the President to implement UN resolutions such as the Principles
on the Effective Prevention and Investigation of Extra-Legal, Arbitrary
and Summary Executions and the 1985 Declaration of Basic Principles of
Justice for Victims of Crime and Abuse of Power.
The Lawyers for
Lawyers was part of a fact-finding mission that visited the country in
June 2006 after the killings of four lawyers, and continued harassment
on others. The mission reported that most of the lawyer victims were
handling human rights-related cases, and some had been labeled as
“enemies of the state.” Bulatlat
BACK TO
TOP ■
PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION ■
COMMENT
© 2007 Bulatlat
■
Alipato Publications
Permission is granted to reprint or redistribute this article, provided
its author/s and Bulatlat are properly credited and notified.