Amnesty concerned about human rights in the Philippines

Amnesty International has not been very vocal about the deteriorating human rights situation in the Philippines but recently they have issued a strong statement that accurately describes the situation since the crackdown on dissenters in the military, the media, and mainstream politics. The human rights watchdog sees "political motives behind recent selective arrests and launch of criminal proceedings". According to Amnesty, "the political Left in particular may have been targeted for a repeated series of arrests on a variety of spurious charges."

Amnesty International also calls on the authorities "to fulfil their obligation to protect the right to life, not least by conducting prompt, thorough, impartial and effective investigations" of the recent wave of political killings. This would be long overdue but it is doubtful whether the current regime of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has any intention to do justice to the victims of those killings. Its inaction speaks volumes about its own implication. We might as well add our voice to the clamor for its ouster and hope the next regime will clean the country's tainted human rights record.