Public Service Alliance of Canada BC

Honourable Maxime Bernier, Minister of Foreign Affairs

Dear Minister Bernier:

On behalf of the Public Service Alliance of Canada, a national union made up of over 160,000 members, I am writing to express our grave concern regarding the appalling human rights situation in the Philippines under President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

In recent months, we have become aware of the rapidly deteriorating situation in the Philippines marked with extrajudicial killings and trade union repression from a variety of sources.

• Send an email to the Philippine & Canadian Governments - Stop the political killings!

In March 2007, we heard from individuals who survived assassination attempts under the Arroyo government, such as Dr. Constancio Claver, who told of the political targeting and surveillance he experienced that ultimately resulted in the murder of his wife and attempted murder of himself and his daughter when they were ambushed in July 2006. He also shared his frustration with the Philippine National Police’s lack of investigation and prosecutions in his case.

In May, we heard from Cecilia Diocson, Eastern Coordinator of the Philippines-Canada Task Force on Human Rights, who held a fact-finding mission to the Philippines in November 2006, who shared how human rights defenders, trade unionists, members of faith-base organizations and others are being blatantly targeted by the Arroyo regime for advocating for basic human rights.

Most recently, we met with Arnel Salvador, the Deputy Executive Director of the Workers Assistance Center in Cavite, Philippines who wished to raise awareness among and gain support from Canadians, particularly the labour movement, for the Filipino workers’ struggles against the spate of labour repression and human rights violations under the Arroyo regime.

From all of this we know that since Arroyo assumed power on January 20, 2001 to December 2006, more than 70 leaders, members, organizers and supporters of trade unions and workers organizations have been killed. They are among the more than 800 victims of political killings of progressive activists and critics of the Arroyo regime.

Aside from killings, other trade union violations include assaults on the picket line, illegal arrests and detentions, grave threats, intimidations, abductions and harassment. According to the Center for Trade Union and Human Rights (CTUHR), an independent workers’ research institute in the Philippines, there were 982 cases of trade union and human rights violations victimizing 77,028 workers from 2001 to 2006.

This trend continues. From January to August 2007 alone, CTUHR has documented 59 cases of human rights violations that affected more than 800 workers.

We are also aware that the Government of Canada has expressed being “deeply concerned” by the extrajudicial killings in the Philippines. In a response to petitions filed in the House of Commons, your predecessor, the former Minister of Foreign Affairs Peter MacKay, “acknowledges the steps undertaken by the Government of the Philippines and Philippine civil society to stop extrajudicial killings and continues to urge thorough and timely investigations and prosecution of perpetrators.”

However, we wish to draw your attention to the fact that the Government of the Philippines has done nothing effective to stop the killings and disappearances. The culture of impunity is thus perpetuated, leaving the families of victims still seeking justice. President Arroyo continues to implement the counter-insurgency program, Oplan Bantay Laya (Operation Freedom Watch) - to which UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, Professor Philip Alston partly attributes the increase in extrajudicial executions. Killings, disappearances, and repression of rights are still taking place.

We call on the Federal Government to immediately pressure the Philippine government to respect international human rights covenants and agreements. We also call on the House of Commons to hold a Parliamentary Hearing on the human rights situation in the Philippines, and the role of Canada in this situation. This could include, but not be limited to:

• review Canada’s development assistance to and trade with the Philippines to ensure that these are primarily directed at reducing social and economic inequities and do not aggravate the prevalent violations of human rights;
• review Canada’s security cooperation with the Philippine government particularly in the fight against terrorism and ensure that this does not support its national security policy that exacerbates the violations of human rights;
• review Canada’s human rights initiatives in the Philippines including its support for the human rights training of police and military officials and the reforms of the judicial system to ensure their effectiveness in enhancing the protection and promotion of human rights;

Minister Bernier, Canada has an international reputation as a defender of human rights. We call on the Government of Canada to act now to help stop the extrajudicial killings in the Philippines and defend the human rights of the Filipino people.

Sincerely,

John Gordon, National President, Public Service Alliance of Canada