Japan rights groups urge Arroyo to halt extrajudicial killings

TOKYO, May 22 Kyodo

Japan-based human rights groups urged visiting Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on Tuesday to take further steps to halt the hundreds of execution-style killings carried out in the Philippines and punish the perpetrators amid a spate of such killings.

The groups, including Amnesty International Japan and Human Rights Now, gathered in the evening for a candlelight vigil in front of the Philippine Embassy in Tokyo and handed over to the embassy a petition letter to Arroyo. The vigil was dedicated to activists, journalists and other victims of extrajudicial killings.

In the letter, the groups urged the Philippine armed forces and national police ''to immediately stop using the policy of targeting civilian organizations and individual activists.'' Arroyo also acts as commander-in-chief of the Philippine armed forces.

The gathering in Tokyo came at the start of Arroyo's four-day trip to Japan from Tuesday and was also simultaneously held in the cities of Nagoya and Osaka.

The groups, in their letter, urged the Philippine government ''to condemn all political killings consistently and at every level of government...and ensure that those responsible for political killings are brought to justice.''

Sonoko Kawakami of Amnesty International Japan said she hoped Tuesday's gathering would help push for a resolution of the issue in an expeditious way in the wake of international pressure.

While noting progress such as investigations of military officers allegedly involved in the killings, the groups expressed concern over reports that more than 100 people, including election candidates, were murdered between January and May, when midterm elections were held.

According to Philippine human rights group Karapatan, more than 800 extrajudicial killings have occurred since Arroyo assumed power after a military-backed uprising in 2001. Karapatan puts the tally of victims at 185 for the year 2006 alone.

Prodded by the human rights groups, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe expressed concern over the Philippines' human rights situation when he met with Arroyo in December during his official visit to the Philippines.

Arroyo took steps to address the allegations by setting up an independent commission headed by retired Supreme Court Justice Jose Melo to look into the matter. The commission said there is ''circumstantial evidence'' that a ''certain group in the military'' is responsible for many of the killings of political and human rights activists, religious workers, journalists and farmers.

Philip Alston, U.N. special rapporteur on extrajudicial killings, conducted his own investigation of the killings in February. His preliminary findings linked the military to many of the killings.

The Philippine government has dismissed allegations linking the military to the killings as leftist propaganda. Left-wing organizations claim that the position by the government further perpetuates the killings to silence Arroyo's vocal critics.

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