INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS: A Government Blacklisting Peacemakers?

Apparently, the Philippines government blacklisted 504 people related to the “Al-Qaeda/Taliban Link” in July and August. These people are banned from entering the country. It is not known whether or not this blacklist is still in effect. According to Human Rights Watch, which recently uncovered the document, the blacklist contains names of people from over 50 countries, including “individuals from U.S.-based organizations such as Church World Service, the Methodist Church General Board of Church and Society, the National Lawyers Guild, and the Center for Constitutional Rights.” [1]

Certainly does not sound like people tied to Al Qaeda or the Taliban to me.

What’s astonishing is that some of the Americans targeted in the list are nothing more than peacekeepers who visited the Philippines. Ramsey Clark, a former U.S. attorney general, had visited the Philippines to help human rights victims of the armed forces. The Philippines government has been under intense scrutiny for extrajudicial killings of government critics and activists, by which Philippines President Gloria Arroyo has shrewdly welcomed international assistance in examining unsolved killings.

Clearly, the blacklist is a form of suppression of freedom and speech in the Philippines. The discovery of blacklists also does not help build a better reputation for the Philippines, much less President Arroyo’s open international invitation to investigate the cases.

What is the irony of the situation? The Philippines is a nation that “prides itself on being a democracy that values free speech.”[1] The authors of the blacklists should see that they are doing a disservice to their country’s “open policy” of investigations into the killings. Rather than promoting justice, the blacklists only appear to suppress speech and peacemaking in the Philippines. The world will think, “If they can blacklist non-violent people, wouldn't it be possible for them be held responsible for unsolved killings?” The president’s message to the world would be of no value – and the image of the nation would do nothing but crumble.

-Denise
International Human Rights

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[1] http://hrw.org/english/docs/2007/09/28/philip16961.htm