The EU yesterday lamented the lack of court convictions in cases of political killings in the Philippines despite a marked decline in the incidents owing to international pressure on the government.
Alistair MacDonald, ambassador of the European Commission, the EU’s executive body, said the drop in the number of extrajudicial killings in the Philippines last year was a welcome development.
But he said “it is regrettable that as yet there have been no convictions in relation to the killings of political activists” and the attacks were continuing despite pronouncements by the Philippine government to address the issue.
“The task for the Philippine society, whether it is the investigators, the prosecutors or judges, is to carry that process through and see to it that cases are investigated, prosecuted and if guilty, the perpetrators are sent to prison,” MacDonald said.
More than 900 people have become victims of extrajudicial killings in the Philippines since 2001, local human-rights group Karapatan said. Most of the victims are leftist political and activists, labor leaders, human-rights workers and journalists.
Last year 69 extrajudicial killings were recorded, down from 209 the previous year, as international pressure increased on Manila to stop the attacks and prosecute perpetrators. So far this year, Karapatan has already recorded 13 cases of political killings.
MacDonald said the EU was ready to provide a huge assistance package to Manila to boost criminal investigation, human-rights awareness and other efforts aimed at stamping out the political killings.
He said the 18-month Justice Assistance Mission program would “provide support, advise, technical assistance and training” in the areas of criminal justice and human rights.
“The program is not a short-term quick fix,” he said. “It’s intended to go deeply into strengthening institutions, strengthening civil society and having a long-term, sustained impact.”
One of the key elements of the program is focused on the country’s criminal justice system and aims to strengthen the investigation process of the police, enhance the capabilities of law enforcers and boost the government’s witness protection program.
“The EU is prepared to provide a significant amount of technical assistance and training in order to help the Philippines and all stakeholders bring an end to the scourge of extrajudicial killings and ensure that impunity is ended and that the perpetrators are identified, prosecuted and if convicted, jailed,” he said.
POLITICAL PRISONERS VS DEPORTEES: Venezuela’s prosecutor’s office slammed the call by El Salvador’s leader, accusing him of crimes against humanity Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele on Sunday proposed carrying out a prisoner swap with Venezuela, suggesting he would exchange Venezuelan deportees from the US his government has kept imprisoned for what he called “political prisoners” in Venezuela. In a post on X, directed at Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, Bukele listed off a number of family members of high-level opposition figures in Venezuela, journalists and activists detained during the South American government’s electoral crackdown last year. “The only reason they are imprisoned is for having opposed you and your electoral fraud,” he wrote to Maduro. “However, I want to propose a humanitarian agreement that
ECONOMIC WORRIES: The ruling PAP faces voters amid concerns that the city-state faces the possibility of a recession and job losses amid Washington’s tariffs Singapore yesterday finalized contestants for its general election on Saturday next week, with the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP) fielding 32 new candidates in the biggest refresh of the party that has ruled the city-state since independence in 1965. The move follows a pledge by Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財), who took office last year and assumed the PAP leadership, to “bring in new blood, new ideas and new energy” to steer the country of 6 million people. His latest shake-up beats that of predecessors Lee Hsien Loong (李顯龍) and Goh Chok Tong (吳作棟), who replaced 24 and 11 politicians respectively
Young women standing idly around a park in Tokyo’s west suggest that a giant statue of Godzilla is not the only attraction for a record number of foreign tourists. Their faces lit by the cold glow of their phones, the women lining Okubo Park are evidence that sex tourism has developed as a dark flipside to the bustling Kabukicho nightlife district. Increasing numbers of foreign men are flocking to the area after seeing videos on social media. One of the women said that the area near Kabukicho, where Godzilla rumbles and belches smoke atop a cinema, has become a “real
‘WATER WARFARE’: A Pakistani official called India’s suspension of a 65-year-old treaty on the sharing of waters from the Indus River ‘a cowardly, illegal move’ Pakistan yesterday canceled visas for Indian nationals, closed its airspace for all Indian-owned or operated airlines, and suspended all trade with India, including to and from any third country. The retaliatory measures follow India’s decision to suspend visas for Pakistani nationals in the aftermath of a deadly attack by shooters in Kashmir that killed 26 people, mostly tourists. The rare attack on civilians shocked and outraged India and prompted calls for action against their country’s archenemy, Pakistan. New Delhi did not publicly produce evidence connecting the attack to its neighbor, but said it had “cross-border” links to Pakistan. Pakistan denied any connection to