>From the Manila Standard US rights lawyers to probe killings
By Mark Ivan Roblas, Researcher An American woman lawyer who provides legal assistance to suspected terrorists held by the US in Guantánamo is in town to investigate the murders of political activists, 70 of them women. Tina Monshipour Foster is part of an all-women team composed of Jill Soffiyah Elijah, deputy director of Criminal Justice Institute of Harvard Law School; Rachel Lederman, Vanessa Lucas and Merrilyn Onisko, all members of the National Lawyers Guild of America. The five are here at the invitation of Representatives Liza Maza and Eliza Tita Lubi of the Gabriela Womens Party and officers of Gabriela National Alliance of Women. Lederman said her team and the groups they represent are disturbed by accusations made by Gabriela that its members and those of other activist organizations are being harassed, threatened and killed by the military and the police. Lederman said the team would also confer with human-rights lawyers in the country to ensure that due process is observed in the rebellion case against Maza and fellow Representatives Satur Ocampo, Crispin Beltran, Teodoro Casiño and Joel Virador. She said the team would hold a discussion with other women leaders on the continuing threat of violence on women. It would also look into the possible connection between the governments participation in the so-called war on terror and the growing disregard of human rights and civil liberties in the country. Lederman said the result of the investigation would be brought before international rights groups. She added that if the accusations prove true, the team would demand that the government stop the persecution. Emboldened killers The London-based Amnesty International has also noted a sharp rise last year in the number of leftist activists killed. The killers are apparently emboldened by the perception that they are beyond the reach of the law, the group said in its annual report on the state of human rights in the world. The number of attacks on leftist activists and community workers rose sharply; at least 66 fatal shootings were reported in 2005. Most of the attacks were carried out by unidentified assailants on motorcycles, at times wearing face masks, who were often described as vigilantes or hired killers allegedly linked to AFP [Armed Forces of the Philippines] members, the report said. Amnesty International said most of the targets of political killings were members of legal leftist parties, which are believed to be sympathetic with the communist movement. Climate of impunity A climate of impunity shielding the perpetrators of such killings deepened as ineffective investigations failed to lead to the prosecution of those responsible, the report said. Amnesty International praised the Commission on Human Rights for issuing a statement that held the government accountable for the rash of killings in the country.
