Laurie Ferguson (Reid, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Consumer Affairs) Share this | Hansard source

to move:

That the House:

(1)

notes with grave concern several reports from Amnesty International about the unabated killing of political activists in the Philippines, which, according to reports, includes up to 716 political murders and 176 political disappearances since Mrs Arroyo came to power in January 2001, with victims including political party regional leaders, clergy, church workers, lawyers, journalists, trade union and farmer union leaders, human rights monitors, 43 children and Bishop Ramento of the Philippines Independent Church;

(2)

notes the statements by Amnesty International that these unabated killings share similar characteristics, including the political affiliations of the victims, the methodology of attacks, and reports that the armed forces or other state agents have been directly involved in the attacks, or have consented to, or been complicit in them;

(3)

notes that Amnesty International considers there is a persistent pattern of failure to conduct prompt and effective investigations which lead to the arrest, prosecution and conviction of those responsible;

(4)

notes that the Government of the Republic of the Philippines is duty-bound to protect the right to life of every individual in the country, irrespective of their background or political affiliation, and calls on the Government of President Arroyo to take urgent action to stop the political killings; and

(5)

calls on Foreign Minister Alexander Downer to convey its condemnation of these political killings and its call for urgent action to stop these killings; and

(6)

calls on Foreign Minister Alexander Downer to elicit a formal response from the Philippines Government.

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