Justice and human rights in The

Justice and human rights in
The Philippines

Urgent Request Concerning Human Rights in the Philippines

Ecumenical Advocacy Network on the Philippines

We urgently need your help to restrict Foreign Military Aid to the Philippines, to be voted on by Congress in only a few weeks.

This message has come to us from the Rev. Larry Emery, pastor of Community Presbyterian Church in Walnut Grove, CA.

[1-24-09]

Once again I am asking my fellow Pastors in the Presbyterian Church to join me in a campaign on behalf of human rights in the Philippines. As most of you already know, there has been a marked rise in human rights abuses in the Philippines since Gloria Arroyo became the President of that country in 2001,. Hundreds have been killed, abducted, or arrested on fabricated charges.

The victims come from all sectors of society – journalists, labor organizers, lawyers, community activists, leaders of indigenous peoples and others. This includes over 30 pastors or certified church workers who have been killed or abducted, mostly from the United Church of Christ of the Philippines, a partner church of the Presbyterian Church USA. These are all people who have in some way or another questioned or opposed the government’s political, economic and social policies. In the case of the Pastors and church workers, they have done so based on the understanding that the Gospel of Jesus Christ calls us to stand on the side of the poor and the oppressed.

Several church and human rights groups around the world have issued reports about these abuses and have identified as elements in the Philippine military as those responsible. These groups include Amnesty International, Human Rights Now, and a special UN Commission on Human Rights Investigator.

Attached, you will find a Letter of Concern that is addressed to all members of the US House of Representatives and the US Senate asking them to hold the Philippine government accountable concerning extrajudicial killings and other human rights violations against civil society groups in the Philippines.

With the support from you and many others, The Ecumenical Advocacy Network was able to obtain over 300 signatures on a Letter of Concern in 2007, which urged attaching Human Rights conditions and funding restrictions to US military aid to the Philippines. We were able to get these conditions and restrictions in the bill for Fiscal Year (FY) 2008.

While deaths and disappearances have been reduced, the original conditions of the military aid package for FY 2008 were not met by the Philippine government. Human rights abuses continue. With the arrival of the new administration in Washington, we have a new opportunity to obtain implementation of the original conditions and additional restrictions on military aid.

In the weeks and months ahead, we will be conducting a campaign to accomplish those goals. The first step is to send the Letter of Concern to the House and Senate membership, and we need your help.

This policy we are advocating was approved as part of a Resolution on Human Rights in the Philippines, adopted at the Presbyterian Church (USA) General Assembly held in San Jose, California, in June of 2008. The relevant section is as follows:

Directs the appropriate agencies within the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) to advocate that the United States Congress and the Department of State reduce U.S. funding of the Philippine military and to condition all future aid on: (a) concrete signs that the human rights of unarmed citizens and groups within civil society are respected by all levels of government, including the Philippine military; and (b) evidence that those elements of the Philippine military that are implicated in murder, abduction, torture, and other gross human rights violations are held accountable by the government.

Click here for the full text of the General Assembly action with background as to why this stand was taken.

	First of all, we hope we can count on YOUR signature!
	Secondly, we hope you would help us get additional signatures of other faith leaders, civic organizations, educators, academicians, writers, labor leaders, and human rights advocates? (Signers may not need organizational support, affiliation would be for identification purposes.)

Names of signatories can be forwarded to wgcpc@hotmail.com using the format:

Name, Title

Organization

location

The deadline for receiving all signatures is Thurs., February 5, 2009.

Thank you again for your dedication and commitment.

Rev. Larry Emery
Community Presbyterian Church
Post Office Box 93
Walnut Grove CA 95690
(916) 776-1106
wgcpc@hotmail.com
www.wgcpc.org