US: Challenges remain in Ph human rights practices

By Michael T. Esmino

Managing Editor

The United States Sec. John Kerry released the 2014 Country Reports on Human Rights practices where it was detailed that although the Philippines has continued to investigate and prosecute human rights abuses, concerns about impunity remains.

The Human Rights Report is an annual requirement for the US state secretary which he gives to the United States Congress with “a full and complete report regarding… the status of internationally recognized human rights.” Additionally, the yearly report also describes the status of internationally recognized individual, civil, political, and worker rights, as set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, in countries around the world.

This year’s report was officially released on June 25, 2015,

In the report, it stated that the US government continues to assist the Philippine government in addressing a wide range of human rights challenges, most notably through assistance directed toward judicial efficiency and the reduction of case backlogs, the inclusion of women in the peace process, protecting vulnerable populations in disaster-affected areas, law enforcement and prosecutorial capacity-building, and promoting sexual orientation and gender identity awareness.

Meanwhile, US ambassador to the Philippines Philip S. Goldberg noted that “Extrajudicial killings remain foremost among the human rights challenges in the Philippines. I am encouraged by the interagency cooperation within the Philippine government to address impunity, but more remains to be done.”

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