THE UNITED STATES government vowed to
continue assisting the Philippine government in addressing a wide range of
human rights challenges.
This was contained in a statement released
by the US Embassy on Feb. 28.
The US said the assistance would be directed
toward judicial efficiency and the reduction of case backlogs, law enforcement
and prosecutorial capacity building, and sexual orientation and gender identity
awareness.
On February 27, 2014 United States
Secretary of State John Kerry released the 2013 Country Reports on Human Rights
Practices (“the Human Rights Reports.”)
The secretary is required each year to
provide the United States Congress with “a full and complete report regarding…
the status of internationally recognized human rights.” In accordance with this mandate, the Human
Rights Reports describe the status of internationally recognized human rights,
including those set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, in
countries around the world.
The 2013 Human Rights Report for the
Philippines both acknowledges the headway made by the Government of the
Philippines on important human rights issues in the past year and reiterates
the continuing challenges that lay ahead.
The report highlights that in 2013, there were three convictions in
cases of extrajudicial killings. It also
notes the continued work of the Inter-Agency Committee on extra judicial
killings (EJKs) and other grave human rights violations established by
Administrative Order 35 as well as progress made in key high-level corruption
investigations and cases.
The reports further states that “[t]he most
significant human rights problems continued to be extrajudicial killings and
enforced disappearances undertaken by security forces; a dysfunctional criminal
justice system notable for poor cooperation between police and investigators,
few prosecutions, and lengthy procedural delays; and widespread official
corruption and abuse of power.”
Meanwhile, US Ambassador to the Philippines
Philip S. Goldberg, underscoring the findings in the report, noted that “After
meeting recently with Justice Secretary De Lima, NBI Director Mendez, and
Chairperson Rosales at the Commission on Human Rights, it’s clear to me that
extrajudicial killings remain foremost among the human rights challenges in the
Philippines. I am encouraged by the
Philippine’s recent EJK convictions and urge that the government spare nothing
in its efforts to protect the right of free expression and bring those
responsible for these horrendous crimes to justice.”
The entire 2013 Philippines Human Rights
Report is available via the following Internet URL
http://www.humanrights.gov. Additional
information is available on the U.S. Embassy’s web site at
http://philippines.usembassy.gov. (MTE)
Comments
Post a Comment