Rights group says little progress against abuses in Philippines

Jan 23, 2012, 6:57 GMT

Manila - Philippine President Benigno Aquino III has made little progress in stopping abuses allegedly perpetrated by state security forces and must take concrete steps to back his good intentions, an international human rights group said Monday.

The New York-based Human Rights Watch said extrajudicial killings and torture of leftist activists, alleged communist rebels and accused criminals were continuing under the administration of Aquino, who has promise to end impunity for abuses.

'After a year and a half in office, President Aquino should be delivering on his promise to end impunity for rights abuses,' said Elaine Pearson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. 'His administration will ultimately be measured by what it achieves, not by his stated intentions.'

In its annual World Report, Human Rights Watch said it has documented at least seven extrajudicial killings and three enforced disappearances for which there was strong evidence of military involvement since Aquino took office in June 2010.

It also recorded several cases of torture, including the high-profile case of a 39-year-old baker accused of being a Muslim militant who was allegedly stripped naked, sexually abused and set on fire by soldiers in the southern province of Basilan in July 2011.

Presidential spokesman Edwin Lacierda said the government has not yet seen the report and would hold comment until they have studied the document.

Pearson urged Aquino to give more attention to the murder case against former military general Jovito Palparan who has been in hiding since a court ordered his arrest in December for the kidnapping of two student activists in 2006.

'The arrest and prosecution of Palparan would be the most significant move against impunity for military abuses in the last decade,' she said.

The government has offered 1 million pesos (23,000 dollars) for information leading to the fugitive general's arrest and formed a tracker team dedicated to hunting him down.

Palparan, nicknamed The Butcher by left-wing activists for his alleged involvement in dozens of killings and enforced disappearances of activists from 2001, has denied the charges and said they were propaganda by the country's communist rebels.