Unionists vow pressure to end Philippine killings
Source: Reuters
MANILA, Feb 15 (Reuters) - A France-based international trade union group vowed on Thursday to exert more pressure on the Philippines to act on political killings, saying asking Europe and the United Nations to help in the inquiry was not enough. Karapatan, a local human rights group, has claimed more than 800 people have been murdered since President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo came to power in 2001. About 80 were members of organised labour unions. "The government is not taking any action," Hans Engelberts, secretary-general of Public Services International, told Reuters after his group ended a four-day fact-finding mission in the Philippines. "These killings must be stopped and the perpetrators brought to justice. It's not enough to say come here and nothing is done afterwards." Last month, a government-created inquiry panel led by Jose Melo, a retired Supreme Court justice, submitted a report to the president indicating that "elements in the military" were behind most of the shootings. Arroyo's government did not publish Melo's report but did order a further investigation into the alleged involvement of troops in the killings. She has asked European governments to help with the investigation but declined to share Melo's report. A United Nations team is in Manila to meet officials, rights groups and families of victims but has avoided giving any statement to the media. Engelberts said his group, with 20 million members from more than 150 countries across the globe, would exert more pressure to urge the Philippines to take steps to end the violence. The union leader said the group was "in a better position to call for increased international pressure" against Arroyo's government, recalling its role in economic and political sanctions imposed on South Africa and Zimbabwe. The delegation, which included union leaders from Japan and Norway, also held a meeting this week with Philip Alston, United Nations' special rapporteur on extra-judicial killings, who is part of the U.N. team investigating the killings.
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