Gavin Marshall (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise tonight to talk about recent events which give further cause for concern about the status of democracy in the Philippines. In particular, I refer to a warrant of arrest which has been issued against Representative Satur Ocampo, the Deputy Minority Leader of the Philippine House of Representatives. I have spoken in this place on a number of occasions about human rights abuses which have occurred in the Philippines since President Gloria Arroyo came to power in 2001. It is an issue that, despite international attention and condemnation, refuses to go away.

In the period of the Arroyo government, there have been more than 820 extrajudicial killings and execution-style assassinations of Philippine citizens, and it is a number which is increasing almost daily. In addition to these killings, many more Philippine citizens have had threats made against them, have had assassination attempts made on their lives, have disappeared or have been held in detention without warrant. Those who have been subjected to these crimes include unionists, lawyers, church workers, municipal councillors, human rights advocates and journalists. In fact, the Philippines has the dubious distinction of being the second most dangerous country for journalists—second only to Iraq. This is a status which was stressed in the past month when a newspaper editor was murdered in a drive-by killing in Mindanao province.

As I have said before in this place, the common factor that links the victims of these crimes is that they have all been outspoken on issues of justice, poverty, civil liberties, workers’ rights and human rights. They have advocated on behalf of the poor and oppressed in the Philippines, and many of them have been directly critical of the Arroyo government. However, few of these crimes have been appropriately investigated and those responsible for these atrocities have not been brought to justice.

Also of grave concern to me are the continued attacks on members of progressive political parties in the Philippines and the attempts by the Arroyo government to suppress any form of political dissent or opposition. Symptomatic of this is the arrest warrant issued earlier this month against Representative Satur Ocampo, the deputy minority leader of the Philippine House of Representatives and the President of the Bayan Muna Party or People First Party. Representative Ocampo was the subject of an arrest warrant on 6 March for alleged murders committed 22 years ago in the province of Leyte. These accusations of murder appear to be baseless.

Satur Ocampo was arrested in January 1976 and held under military custody by the Marcos regime until 1985 on rebellion charges—charges which he has subsequently been cleared of. He is now being charged with a crime that happened between 1984 and 1985 while he was under military detention, rendering impossible the claim that he was in Leyte to supervise these purported killings. Despite this impossibility, the judge refused to dismiss the case against Ocampo. Representative Ocampo’s counsel also highlights a number of anomalies with the case against him, including the fact that no probable cause was found for charging him and no proof of conspiracy was presented, as required by law and jurisprudence. This measure to impose an arrest warrant on Representative Ocampo on baseless charges marks a continuation of the Arroyo government’s attempts to thwart political opposition in the lead-up to the May elections.

I am concerned that Representative Ocampo may suffer the same fate as his fellow Congressman Crispin Beltran. On 25 February last year, Crispin, a well-known member of the Anakpawis party, was brought in for questioning by the Filipino police. His arrest warrant was based on a subsequently quashed rebellion charge filed back in 1985 by the Marcos regime. He continues to be detained on the same unjust rebellion charges also filed against Ocampo and has been denied the right to due process.

Since Gloria Arroyo became President, the Bayan Muna Party and other progressive political parties in the Philippines, such as the Gabriela Women’s Party, have been subject to these extrajudicial killings and continual harassment. Under the Arroyo government, 130 members of the Bayan Muna Party, a party which seeks to be a progressive voice in the Philippine Congress, have been murdered. Seven Bayan Muna Party members have already been killed this year, including two who were killed as recently 11 March. Amongst its members killed this year include Professor Jose Maria Cui, a university professor, unionist and human rights activist. Professor Cui was shot and killed last month in front of his students at the University of Eastern Philippines by two assassins who later fled on motorbikes. The arrest warrant against Satur Ocampo, the continued detention of Crispin Beltran and the murders of the members of opposing parties are clear attacks on the people’s right to a safe, secure and prosperous life and are attacks on the democratic process itself.

Links tying these abuses to the Arroyo government have been clearly established by many international organisations, including Amnesty International and the United Nations. Earlier this year, Professor Philip Alston, an Australian human rights academic and the United Nations Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary, or arbitrary executions, spent 10 days investigating the murders and abuses in the Philippines. In recent media statements he criticised the armed forces of the Philippines for remaining ‘in a state of almost total denial of its need to respond effectively and authentically to the significant number of killings which have been convincingly attributed to them’. In his preliminary report, he concluded that ‘the executive branch of the Philippine government, openly and enthusiastically aided by the military, has worked resolutely to impede the work of party-list groups and to put in question their right to operate freely’.

The role of the opposition in any democratic society is clear: it is to provoke discussion, to provide scrutiny and to develop an articulate alternative agenda to the government of the day. Without the ability for the people to organise and follow their beliefs and convictions free of the threat of persecution, a true democracy cannot exist. However, Gloria Arroyo’s government is seeking to deny the citizens of the Philippines this right and has continued to use the apparatus of the state against parliamentarians who promote opposing view points.

Despite international pressure from bodies such as the United Nations and Amnesty International this cycle continues today. As members of the Australian parliament, we have a moral obligation to stand up in this place and let the Filipino government know that we are aware that these things are happening, and we need to continue to push the case for human rights reform. The Filipino government has a long history of working with the Australian government through APEC. They are two countries that in alliance have chorused long and loud about the fight against global terrorism. Yet, when it comes to the worst form of terrorism —that is, state sponsored terrorism—the silence of both governments is deafening.

The Howard government has argued for years that the war on terror is about the promotion of human rights, the affirmation of democratic values and making people’s lives better. Yet the irony is not lost on me that our government’s dedication to these values is selective at best. Time and time again, it has failed to stand up for these issues in our own region. As regional neighbours, we have a responsibility to stand up for the oppressed in the Philippines and to ensure that democracy and human rights in our region are not suppressed. I have written to the Minister for Foreign Affairs seeking further clarification about the situation of Representative Ocampo, and I am looking forward to his response.

The challenge also lies with President Arroyo to act on the advice of the international community, such as the United Nations and the European Union, to stop silencing her opponents and restore the fundamental elements that underpin a democratic system—that is, freedom of association and freedom of speech. She needs to show the world that she has a commitment to democratic values by bringing an end to the violence, killings and abductions, releasing Crispin Beltran and ensuring Representative Satur Ocampo is not denied access to due legal process and the rule of law. The eyes of the world will be on the Philippines and the government of Gloria Arroyo in the lead-up to their elections, to ensure that justice is afforded to the victims of violence and harassment, that the citizens of the Philippines can participate in the election process freely and without fear and that true democracy in the Philippines prevails.