International
freedom of expression groups, media support and development organisations and
journalists’ unions are calling on the Philippines Government to take urgent
and concrete steps to respond and act on human rights abuses that continue to
plague journalists and media workers operating in the country.
Twenty-eight organisations meeting this week to discuss international
partnerships joined colleagues in the Philippines
in remembering victims of the Ampatuan Town Massacre, in Maguindanao, Mindanao one year ago today.
The massacre, which saw 58 people including 32 journalists and media
workers brutally murdered, is known as the world’s single biggest atrocity against journalists
and the lowest point in a decades-long culture of impunity for the killings of
media personnel in the Philippines.
The groups meeting at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris marked the
one-year anniversary of the massacre by issuing a call to national governments
around the world to exert
pressure on the administration of Benigno Aquino III so that perpetrators of human
rights abuses in the Philippines face justice, regardless of their place or
status within society or government.
Of 196
suspects in the massacre, 19 are now on trial while more than 100 remain at
large. Of those at large, 10 are police and four are soldiers. Intimidation,
bribery and compromised forensic evidence threaten the prosecution of the
perpetrators. Meanwhile, journalists’ and media workers’ safety continues to be
under threat, with another four journalists and media workers killed in the Philippines
this year.
The meeting
resolved that President Benigno Aquino III and his administration is falling
short on his promise to seek justice in the Maguindanao killings, and other human rights abuses including the many victims of extrajudicial murders.
The
organisations reminded governments around that world that ending the culture of
impunity for the killings of journalists and media workers, which intensified
under the administration of former President Gloria Arroyo, is a global
responsibility, and one which requires decisive and urgent action.
The organisations
endorsed the following recommendations, made by a number of international
missions, advocacy and support work conducted in the Philippines
over many years by organisations present at the Paris meeting.
To ensure a prompt, fair and transparent trial of
all suspects implicated in the Ampatuan
Town Massacre, Philippines
President Benigno Aquino III and his administration should:
- Direct
authorities and law enforcement agencies to provide all evidence in the
massacre case to the prosecution;
- Support
changes of trial venue to neutral and secure locations;
- Pursue the
investigation, arrest and prosecution of all those responsible for bribes,
threats, and violence towards witnesses and family members of the victims;
- Direct
judicial authorities to nominate a timeframe for the arrest, trial and
prosecution of all 196 suspects, and commit all required resources to achieving
this goal; and
- Ensure
adequate funding for the Department of Justice witness protection program.
Beyond Maguindanao, the government must review and
pursue policies to address impunity including:
- The creation
of rapid response teams composed of forensic and legal experts to handle all
major crimes, including the murders of journalists and media workers;
- Judicial and
legislative reform to ensure that justice is delivered swiftly in all cases
where media personnel are murdered, including compensation and counselling for
families of victims; and
- Take responsibility
to lead a process of national reconciliation by conducting a series of public
meetings and a public awareness media campaign in support of media freedom,
democracy and human rights in the Philippines.
Endorsed by:
AMARC: World
Association of Community Radio Broadcasters
Article 19
Belarusian
Association of Journalists
Centre for Law
and Democracy
Committee to Protect
Journalists
Deutche Welle
Federation of
Nepali Journalists (FNJ)
Fojo International
Freedom House
International Center For Journalists
International Federation of Journalists
International Media Support
Index on
Censorship
International News Safety Institute
International PEN
Internews
Internews Europe
International Publishers Association
International Press Institute
Institute for Reporters’
Freedom and Safety
International Research and Exchanges Board
(IREX)
IREX Europe
Open Society Foundation
Pakistan Federal Union
of Journalists
Press Now
United
National Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO)
WAN-IFRA:
World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers
World Press Freedom
Committee
Endorsed:
November 23, 2010
For further
information contact IFJ Asia-Pacific
on +612 9333 0919
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