Manila asks Europe to help probe political killings
Source: Reuters
MANILA, Feb 5 (Reuters) - The Philippines has asked European states to help investigate political killings blamed on soldiers and communist rebels in the Southeast Asian country, Manila's foreign minister said on Monday. Alberto Romulo said he sent letters on Jan. 31 to Spain, Germany, United Kingdom, Finland, Sweden, the Netherlands and the European Union seeking "technical assistance" to facilitate and hasten an inquiry being carried out by a presidential panel. The call for help came days after the head of the inquiry commission said soldiers had killed hundreds of leftwing activists since 2001. The commission, headed by a retired supreme court justice, submitted its report to President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo last month. Arroyo who has not released the findings, asked the commission to do supplemental work and sought assistance from European states. "It is hoped that, with the various experience and expertise each government had on such issues, all cases will be resolved soon with due diligence," Romulo said in the letter. He said the request for assistance was in response to "concerns of the international community on the so-called unexplained killings in the Philippines". Local human rights group Karapatan has said more than 800 people have been murdered in extrajudicial killings since Arroyo came to power in 2001 and 365 were leftwing activists. The police have disputed Karapatan's figures saying that 136 people were murdered for work-related or political reasons since 2001. Arroyo, who is commander-in-chief of the armed forces, said communist rebels were also responsible for a surge in political violence and appealed to witnesses to come forward with evidence to bring to justice those behind the killings. Many of those killed were members of organisations viewed as fronts for communist rebel movement, the New People's Army, which has been waging a near nationwide insurgency since the late 1960s.
| AlertNet news is provided by |  |
