General comments made by other relevant stakeholders

3. General comments made by other relevant stakeholders

and advise on executive action to address human rights issues. It finally stated its readiness to work with the Government and civil society in formulating the national human rights plan of action and in follow-up to the universal periodic review.

478. The International Women’s Rights Action Watch Asia Pacific, Action Canada for Population and Development, the Latin American Committee for the Defence of Women’s Rights, the Centre for reproductive rights and the Federation for Women and Family Planning called on the Government to reject the recommendation made by the Holy See in paragraph 58 of the report of the Working Group, calling for the protection of children in the womb. The recommendation is contrary to the concluding comments of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women in which it urged the Government to remove the punitive provisions imposed on women who have abortions and to reduce women’s maternal mortality rates in line with the Committee’s general recommendation No. 24 on women and health and the Beijing Platform for Action. The recommendation contravenes the findings of the treaty monitoring bodies that access to safe and legal abortion is a matter of women’s right to life, health, non-discrimination and dignity based on interpretations of human rights norms, commitments in global consensus documents and evidence of the impact of unsafe abortion on women’s health. As reflected in recommendation No. 15, the non-governmental organizations called on the Government of the Philippines to extend a standing invitation to the special procedures as part of its commitment to respect and fulfil women’s reproductive rights.

479. Human Rights Watch, in a joint statement with Amnesty International, welcomed the important recommendations made by several States during the review of the Philippines to eliminate extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, and torture and other ill-treatment, and to carry out investigations into such violations and to punish those responsible. They encouraged the Philippines to act immediately on those recommendations, which echo those of the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch welcomed the Government’s stated commitment to reducing incidents of extrajudicial executions and enforced disappearances and to bringing the perpetrators to justice, including through enhanced coordination between its prosecution services and other agencies. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch noted that the challenge for the Philippines continued to be the effective implementation of its initiatives and programmes, including reform of the witness protection programme and the prosecution and suitable punishment of persons found to be responsible for political killings and other serious rights violations, particularly those from the security sector. Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch encouraged the Philippines to implement its institutional reforms necessary for preventing a resurgence of political killings, by vigorously investigating and prosecuting members of the military implicated in extrajudicial killings or enforced disappearances and by creating a specialist unit in the Witness Protection Programme to provide social and financial support for witnesses and families of alleged victims of political killings and enforced disappearances for as long as they are at risk. Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International also welcomed the signature of the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture shortly after the review of the Philippines in April, and encouraged its early ratification as well as ratification of the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, as pledged by the Government.

480. The Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions welcomed the attention paid to economic, social and cultural rights, and particularly to housing rights in the national report; and in particular welcomed the voluntary commitment to continue to find measures to meet the basic needs of the poor and other vulnerable groups. In view of the serious housing rights problems in the Philippines, the Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions was disappointed that little attention was paid thereto in the interactive dialogue and in the report of the Working Group. It drew attention to some recent developments of real concern, including the prevalence of forced evictions. It noted with concern the abolition of the Presidential Commission on the Urban Poor earlier this year, which removed a key check against abuse by the public authority in ensuring compliance by local governments in cases of evictions. It invited the Government to stop the erosion to law and policy in the area of housing rights and not to proceed with the House Bill 1087 of 2008.

481. The Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (Forum-Asia) in association with Philippine Alliance of Human Rights Advocates and Task Force detainees of the Philippines commended the States on the objectivity of the questions and recommendations delivered during the interactive dialogue of the Working Group on the Philippines. They expressed their appreciation for the statement of the Philippines on continued engagement with civil society throughout the follow-up process to the universal periodic review, maintaining the momentum in addressing killings and disappearances, ratifying the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture, and implementing the measures to address the needs of the poor and vulnerable sectors. They stated that they would expect the strengthening of domestic support for the signing and ratification of the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance and urged the Government to reconsider its position on the statute of the International Criminal Court. They also stated that they would expect convictions in the cases of extrajudicial executions, disappearances and torture and that the shortcomings and limitations of court personnel, protection of witnesses, victims’ families, and forensic investigation would be addressed substantively. There were some key issues and recommendations raised by States which the Philippine delegation had chosen not to reply to, particularly regarding the conflict in the Southern province of Mindanao and the extension of a standing invitation to special procedures. The universal periodic review could be a positive and effective mechanism for scrutiny and constructive dialogue as long as a State adhered to the principles of openness, transparency and accountability.

482. The Commission of Churches on International Affairs of the World Council of Churches and the International Association of Democratic Lawyers noted that the continuing concern of the international community about human rights violations was reassuring, as this dispelled the glossy picture projected by the Philippines in its national report. Much was left to be desired in the process of preparation of the report. In relation to the outcome, they noted that the delegation did not indicate having adopted any of the recommendations of the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, especially on the changes in the counter insurgency programme currently being implemented by the State, and noted that the filing of cases and the conviction of four persons did not negate the fact that not a single military person was convicted of such violations. They noted that the reduction of the number of victims was the result of public outcry, but that impunity continued.

483. The Indian Council of South America and Indigenous Peoples and National Coalition thanked the Government for its final report before the Council and for its willingness to cooperate and constructively work with civil society in addressing human rights challenges, especially the extrajudicial killings. They also thanked the Philippines for accepting the acknowledgement and responsibility to address the plight that activists and journalists were facing. They recommended that the Philippines involve civil society more directly at high levels of Government, including through an oversight committee of civil society in seeking ways and means to search for the missing victims and to get to the root of why those killings were taking place. They recommended that the authorities address the root causes for those assassinations and that they look for disappeared persons, and implement the recommendations of the Special Rapporteur and other special procedures on that issue.

484. The Asian Legal Resource Centre welcomed the importance given in the Working Group report to the need for the Government to provide evidence of concrete results concerning its promises to address extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances. The Asian Legal Resource Centre noted that the chief of the human rights office had admitted that he and his staff had never gone to the field to investigate allegations of killings. The Asian Legal Resource Centre hoped that the Government would provide information on the implementation of the recommendations made by the Melo commission and the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial killings. It appreciated the recommendation for the reform of the judiciary and the armed forces, noting that independent investigations and fair trials were the only way to keep up real momentum in addressing those killings and other serious abuses. It also welcomed the repeated requests for the need to ratify the Convention on the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance and the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture as a starting point which needed to lead to verifiable implementation and regular Government reporting.