AFP backs ex-generals’ ‘persona non grata’ tag on Amnesty Joel Guinto INQ7.net
November 14, 2006
THE MILITARY has endorsed a three-month old resolution by the Association of Generals and Flag Officers (AGFO) declaring the human rights group Amnesty International (AI) "persona non-grata" for linking government security forces to the wave of extrajudicial killings in the country.
In a statement, Rear Admiral Amable Tolentino, chief of the Armed Forces Civil Relations Service (CRS), said the AGFO was right in saying that the AI report dated August 15 was "rapidly concluded" and supposedly based mostly on testimonies of "communist supporters and militant personalities."
Tolentino also criticized AI for focusing on the killings of left-wing activists while overlooking "other unexplained deaths" such as alleged victims of a supposed purge within the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP).
Ironically, during a trip to Europe in September, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo personally invited AI to help investigate the political killings after the noted human rights organization came out with a scathing report placing the responsibility for the bloodshed on the government.
In a resolution dated August 18, which the CRS distributed to media, the AGFO said the AI's allegations "caused undue embarrassment to the government" and "smacks of ungratefulness to the host country."
AI investigators, according to the retired generals, are "obnoxious and undesirable aliens that inflict harm and injury upon the reputation of the Filipino people."
"The AGFO strongly condemns the irresponsible, unjust, and unfair acts of the agents of Amnesty International and highly recommends that they be declared 'persona non grata' and be barred from visiting the Philippines," the group said.
"AI agents have shown an unmitigated bias in their charges of alleged human rights violations by government forces based only on their one-sided observation casting the image of the Philippines in a bad light," it added.
AGFO president Jose Bello and corporate secretary Felix Brawner signed the statement.
As Armed Forces chief, General Hermogenes Esperon Jr. is AGFO ex-officio co-chairman.
Arroyo has come under increasing international criticism for failing to stop the wave of extrajudicial killings, which, according to the local human rights group Karapatan, have reached 765 since she assumed office in 2001.
On Monday, the Joint Foreign Chambers of Commerce (JFC) in the Philippines, an umbrella organization of business groups from the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Europe, Japan, and Korea called on Arroyo to stop the killings or risk investments and aid to the country.
