Now that President Benigno S. Aquino III has already signed the Executive Order forming the Truth Commission, we at Karapatan, ask him: Will PNoy’s government lead the prosecution of Mrs.Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and the military and police personnel involved in human rights violations from 2001- end June 2010?
The Palace has said that the Truth Commission will “investigate reports of graft and corruption of such scale and magnitude that shock and offend the moral and ethical sensibilities of the people.” The President’s spokesperson, Mr. Edwin Lacierda said “[The commission’s] job is to investigate and seek the truth in the grave allegations of graft and corruption during the past nine years that allegedly involved government officials and their conspirators in the private sector.”
It is good and proper that these anomalies must be investigated and we hope that prosecution and punishment of those found guilty will also be done.
But we maintain that human rights violations cases must be viewed also as cases “of such scale and magnitude that shock and offend the moral and ethical sensibilities of the people” and thus, must also be prioritized by government so that impunity that attend the commission of these crimes must be put to an end. The victims are still crying for justice up to now.
Now that President Benigno S. Aquino III has already signed the Executive Order forming the Truth Commission, we at Karapatan, ask him: Will PNoy’s government lead the prosecution of Mrs.Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and the military and police personnel involved in human rights violations from 2001- end June 2010?
The Palace has said that the Truth Commission will “investigate reports of graft and corruption of such scale and magnitude that shock and offend the moral and ethical sensibilities of the people.” The President’s spokesperson, Mr. Edwin Lacierda said “[The commission’s] job is to investigate and seek the truth in the grave allegations of graft and corruption during the past nine years that allegedly involved government officials and their conspirators in the private sector.”
It is good and proper that these anomalies must be investigated and we hope that prosecution and punishment of those found guilty will also be done.
But we maintain that human rights violations cases must be viewed also as cases “of such scale and magnitude that shock and offend the moral and ethical sensibilities of the people” and thus, must also be prioritized by government so that impunity that attend the commission of these crimes must be put to an end. The victims are still crying for justice up to now.
President Benigno Simeon C.Aquino III said, in his meeting with the European envoys on May 31, 2010, “Cases of extrajudicial killings need to be solved, not just identify the perpetrators but have them captured and sent to jail. That’s part of the agenda [of the incoming administration]… Judicial reform is so important. There has to be closure as soon as possible, which means not the usual average of six years.”
We therefore reiterate our urgent call to the President to prosecute the previous president and her military and police forces who committed or participated in human rights violations cases; punish the guilty and let the perpetrators promise not to commit the same crimes again.
Ending impunity is one of the hardest human rights issues to be realized as past administrations have tolerated, some even encouraged, security forces to commit human rights violations in the twisted notion of “protecting and defending democracy.” We urge the present dispensation to break free from the bad practices of the past and really GO AFTER HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATORS, not only the corrupt and cheats, so that impunity will be ended and a really new beginning for the country will come about.####