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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