of the Philippines the criminal justice system is - Article 2

The Philippines is a signatory to the 1992 Declaration on the
Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance. In view
of the fact that state agents and others acting on their behalf in
the Philippines are known to routinely abduct and disappear
persons, there should have been a far greater sense of urgency
in enacting a domestic law on forced disappearances. However,
House Bill 1556, an Act Defining and Penalizing the Crime of
Enforced or Involuntary Disappearance, is yet to be approved.
Conclusion
The ongoing human rights crisis in the Philippines indicates
a collapse of the rule of law in the country. While the government
claims to uphold human rights and democracy before the
international community, including the United Nations, at home
there is no possibility for most victims of gross abuses of human
rights to get justice and redress. The culture of impunity,
including state and non-state actors, is so rife that victims have
already lost faith in the government’s criminal justice system.
There is extreme fear amongst the victims that exacerbates the
deep-rooted culture of silence and unwillingness to fight back,
in the country. Those victims who dare to fight back or even to
encourage and serve others to assert their own rights are
subjected to torture, death threats, disappearance or extrajudicial
execution.
Although the abolition of the death penalty in April indicates
in theory a respect for the right to life, this has no meaning to
the victims of extrajudicial killings and their families. The
government is failing to effectively address these killings.
Prior to its election to the UN Human Rights Council, the
government of the Philippines pledged to uphold human rights to
“the highest norms and standards”. This must seem like a sick
joke for most of the country’s people. There is a need for a rigorous
international campaign to deepen understanding of what is
actually going on in the country. Unless false claims and
pretences are confronted and dispelled, the culture of impunity
and attacks on human rights and democracy will only continue.
“
the culture of
impunity is so
rife that victims
have lost faith
in the criminal
justice system
”
article 2 • February 2007 Vol. 6, No. 1 125