This report primarily focuses on women in custody in the Philippines who are vulnerable to torture, including rape and sexual abuse. Amnesty International believes that most perpetrators escape prosecution. Amnesty provides a series of recommendations to the authorities to prevent these grave violations of women’s rights.

In this report, Amnesty International uses the case-study of the criminal investigation into the killing of Rolando Abadilla to illustrate how torture and ill-treatment continue in the Philippines despite the existence of a broad array of laws, procedural safeguards and institutions established to protect fundamental human rights.

This paper gives information on developments in the application of the death penalty by lethal injection to September 1999. It looks at the current situation regarding this form of execution in the USA, China, Guatemala, the Philippines and Taiwan. It also examines the response of professional associations, particularly the medical profession, to this issue.

In this open letter to President Estrada, Amnesty International calls on the President to commute Leo Echegaray’s death sentence and to take steps to abolish the death penalty throughout the Philippines.

This paper outlines the debate on, and the introduction and spread of, lethal injection executions, summarizes the current legislation and international practice and presents AI’s opposition to the death penalty irrespective of the method of execution. It includes as appendices extracts of legislation, regulations and practice on the use of lethal injection in the USA, in China, the Philippines and Guatemala.

This document contains some information and recommendations on the Death Penalty which was restored by the Philippines Government in December 1993. The organization urges the President of the Philippines to exercise clemency in the case of those death row prisoners whose sentences have been confirmed by the Supreme Court and to commute their sentences.

This report examines how patterns of “disappearances” emerged within a context of armed conflict and counter-insurgency campaigns. It includes a number of case studies of people who have “disappeared” in the Philippines. Although the cases listed represent only a small proportion of the hundreds of others who have “disappeared” since the early 1970s they form an illustrative testament to the pain of the victims and the prolonged suffering of their families. While recognising the steady decline in the number of “disappearances” as the scale and intensity of armed conflict has waned in recent years, Amnesty International asserts that the truth about the past human rights violations in the Philippines must not be set aside or forgotten.

Since 1988 at least 550 unarmed people have been killed by government or government-backed forces in the Philippines. The killings occur in the context of counter-insurgency measures against armed opposition groups, e. g. the NPA, themselves responsible for human rights abuses. The victims include suspected members of the armed opposition, members of tribal communities, urban poor activists, trade unionists, church workers, human rights lawyers, peasant activists, farmers, women, children and old people. The bodies of some victims bore signs of severe torture. This report addresses the issue of responsibility for the killings, the context of these violations (including killings by armed groups) the problem of impunity and the government’s human rights record.

This document describes a continuing pattern of human rights violations against people involved in the labour movement in the Philippines. Victims have usually been those accused by the authorities of sympathy with the armed insurgents or of being fronts for the outlawed Communist Party of the Philippines (CPM) or their armed wing, the New People’s Army (NPA). The primary victims of abuses have been members of the Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU, May First Movement) and the National Federation of Sugar Workers (NFSW), affiliated to the KMU. Cases of prominent trade unionists who have been sentenced in trials, the fairness of which is in doubt, are included. They are: Medardo Roda, Elizalde Malaloan and Marlon Luarez; Crispin Beltran, KMU chairman, has been repeatedly arrested.

This report describes a pattern of “disappearances” during 1990 and provides details of the fate some 25 of the “disappeared”. In most cases where there is reliable evidence, the perpetrators have been members of the various security forces or semi-official vigilante groups. The cases detailed here are: Soledad Mabilangan , Alita Bona, Helen Trembevilla and Rosario Lodrono: reappeared in detention; Felipe “Wilson” Leonidas, Efren Concepcion, Nicolas Lopez, Reynaldo Santos, Roberto Lopez, Nestor Loberio, Diomedes “desi” Abawag: killed; Maximiano “Jun mesina, Felix Dimitui, Antonio Buenavista, Amelia Tena, Allan Gitanes, Bonifacio and Rufino Sabanal, Mamerto Lupicio, Edmundo Carias, Jimmy Badayos, Pedro Bulalacao, Josefa Padcayan, Marcelo Bawagan, Arnel Hidalgo: missing.

Since mid-1987 political killings carried out by government and government backed forces in violation of the law have become the most serious human rights problem in the Philippines. Most of the victims have been suspected supporters of the communist insurgency, many of them members of legal left-wing organizations. They have been killed by members of the regular military and police forces, the paramilitary Civilian Home Defense Forces (CHDF) or community-based civilian groups commonly known as “vigilantes”. acting with government support. Amnesty International believes there are several measures the Philippines Government could adopt to deal with the problem of widespread human rights violations.

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