WASHINGTON - The United States on Wednesday sought tougher action by the Philippines to end a wave of extrajudicial killings linked to the military, as a congressional panel examined the problem at a special hearing.
Rights groups say over 800 people have been killed since 2001 during the administration of President Gloria Arroyo, who has vowed to take steps to end the murders of the journalists, church leaders, political figures, human rights activists and trade union leaders.
"We are encouraged by the steps that the Philippine government has taken to date, but we will continue to make clear that more progress is essential and that we stand ready to be of additional assistance to the Philippine authorities," said deputy US assistant secretary of state Eric John.
He spoke at a hearing Wednesday of a US Senate panel on East Asia and Pacific that investigated the circumstances under which the killings occurred and examined strategies to help end the violence.
Senator Barbara Boxer, who chaired the hearing, said "it remains to be seen" if the Philippine government's assurances to solve the killings "will be followed by real and tangible actions."
Washington has underlined its concerns to the Arroyo government over the killings and "strongly urged Philippine officials to take additional steps," such as those recommended by Manila's own commission of inquiry on the violence, John said.
The panel, headed by retired Supreme Court justice Jose Melo, found there was circumstantial evidence linking some sections of the military to the deaths.
A special UN Human Rights Commission rapporteur Philip Alston also alleged that rogue military personnel were behind most of the killings and that the military was in denial over the killings, calling for a thorough investigation for the culprits to be brought to justice.
He blamed a flawed anti-insurgency campaign that often also targeted civilians.
But the military has denied any guilt, saying many of the murders were carried out by communist insurgents as part of an internal purge.
"It is disturbing to note that even though hundreds have been killed so far, to date there has not been a single conviction," T. Kumar, rights group Amnesty International's Asia-Pacific advocacy director, told the hearing Wednesday.
He said that a military general implicated in the killings in the Melo report was lauded by Arroyo as "an asset to the counterinsurgency" following his retirement last September and had been encouraged to run for a seat in the Philippine Congress.
Kumar said that General Jovito Palparan, the army's former head of counter-insurgency, had allegedly led a Philippine military team in US-led operations in Iraq and "this underscores larger concerns about human rights abuses committed by some of the coalition troops in Iraq."
A former senior US diplomat at the hearing questioned Arroyo's capability to take steps to end the extra-judicial killings, saying she has been "politically weak" since her controversial election in 2004 and banked on military support.
"While we all hope the killings will stop immediately, I am not optimistic in the short run," said Eugene Martin, a former deputy head of the US embassy in Manila, and now with the US Institute of Peace, an independent group established and funded by Congress.
Martin said that US counterterrorism cooperation and training opportunities the Philippine military provided American forces "may limit pressure on the Arroyo administration" to take action over the killings.
He said donor nations and international financial institutions, which already had strong anti-corruption requirements for economic assistance, should link aid to independent investigations of the killings to enhance resolution of the cases.
Jonathan Farrar, the principal US assistant secretary of state for human rights, said "there is no tension and no contradiction" between improving the protection of human rights in the Philippines and assisting Manila to combat terrorist threats. AFP
