THE PHILIPPINES: HUMAN RIGHTS AFTER MARTIAL LAW Report of a Mission by Professor Virginia Leary, United States Mr A.A. Ellis, QC, New Zealand Dr Kurt Madlener, Fédéral Republic of Germany THE INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION OF JURISTS Geneva, Switzerland MEMBERS OF THE INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION OF JURISTS KEBA MBAYE Judge of Int’l Court of Justice; former Près. Supreme (Président) Court, Sénégal, and UN Commission on Human Rights ROBERTO CONCEPCION Former Chief Justice, Philippines (Vice-President) HELENO CLAUDIO FRAGOSO Advocate; Professor of Pénal Law, Rio de Janeiro (Vice-President) JOHN P. HUMPHREY Prof, of Law, Montréal; former Director, UN Human (Vice-President) Rights Division ANDRES AGUILAR MAWDSLEY Prof, of Law, Venezuela; former Près. Inter-American Commission BADRIA AL-AWADHI Dean, Faculty of Law and Sharia, Univ. of Kuwait ALPHONSE BONI Président of Supreme Court of Ivory Coast WILLIAM J. BUTLER Attorney at law, New York RAUL F. CARDENAS Advocate; Prof, of Criminal Law, Mexico HAIM H. COHN Former Supreme Court Judge, Israël AUGUSTO CONTE-MACDONELL Advocate; member of Parliament, Argentina TASLIM OLAWALE ELIAS Près., Int’l Court of Justice; former Chief Justice of Nigeria ALFREDO ETCHEBERRY Advocate; Professor of Law, University of Chile GUILLERMO FIGALLO Former Member of Supreme Court of Peru LORD GARDINER Former Lord Chancellor of England P. TELFORD GEORGES Chief Justice, Supreme Court, The Bahamas LOUIS JOXE Ambassador of France; former Minister of State P.J.G. KAPTEYN Councillor of State, Netherlands; former Prof, of Int’l Law MICHAEL D. KIRBY Judge, Fédéral Court of Australia KINUKO KUBOTA Former Prof, of Constitutional Law, Japan RAJSOOMER LALLAH Judge of the Supreme Court, Mauritius TAI-YOUNG LEE Director, Korean Légal Aid Centre for Family Relations SEAN MACBRIDE Former Irish Minister of External Affairs RUDOLF MACHACEK Member of Constitutional Court, Austria J.R.W.S. MAWALLA Advocate of the High Court, Tanzania FRANCOIS-XAVIER MBOUYOM Director of Législation, Ministry of Justice, Cameroon F ALI S. NARIMAN Advocate, former Solicitor-General of India NGO BA THANH Member of National Assembly, Vietnam TORKEL OPSAHL Prof, of Law, Oslo; Member of European Commission GUSTAF B.E. PETREN Judge and Deputy Ombudsman of Sweden SIR GUY POWLES Former Ombudsman, New Zealand SHRIDATH S. RAMPHAL Commonwealth Secr.-Gen.; former Att.-Gen., Guyana DON JOAQUIN RUIZ-GIMENEZ Prof, of Law, Madrid; Defender of the People (Ombuds­ man) of Spain TUN MOHAMED SUFFIAN Lord Président, Fédéral Court of Malaysia SIR MOTI TIKARAM Ombudsman, Fiji CHITTI TINGSABADH Advocate; Prof, of Law; former Supreme Court Judge, Thailand CHRISTIAN TOMUSCHAT Professor of Int’l Law, University of Bonn MICHAEL A. TRIANTAFYLLIDES Près. Supreme Court, Cyprus; Member of European Com­ mission AMOS WAKO Advocate, Kenya; Secr.-Gen., Inter African Union of Lawyers J. THIAM HIEN YAP Attorney at Law, Indonesia HONORARY MEMBERS Sir ADETOKUNBO A. ADEMOLA, Nigeria HANS HEINRICH JESCHECK, Fédéral ARTURO A. ALAFRIZ, Philippines Republic of Germany DUDLEY B. BONSAL, United States JEAN FLAVIEN LALIVE, Switzerland ELI WHITNEY DEBEVOISE, NORMAN S. MARSH, United Kingdom United States JOSE T. NABUCO, Brazil PER FEDERSPIEL, Denmark LUIS NEGRON FERNANDEZ, Puerto Rico T.S. FERNANDO, Sri Lanka Lord SHAWCROSS, United Kingdom W.J. GANSHOF VAN DER MEERSCH, Belgium EDWARD ST. JOHN, Australia SECRETARY-GENERAL NIALL MACDERMOT THE PHILIPPINES: HUMAN RIGHTS AFTER MARTIAL LAW Report of a Mission by Professor Virginia Leary, United States Mr A.A. Ellis, QC, New Zealand Dr Kurt Madlener, Fédéral Republic of Germany on behalf of THE INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION OF JURISTS Geneva, Switzerland Copyright ©, International Commission of Jurists, 1984 ISBN 92 9037 023 8 Contents Abbreviations and Terms..................................................... 5 Map.......................................................................................... 6 Préfacé by Niall MacDermot, Secretary-General of the International Commission of Jurists..................... 7 Chapter 1 An Overview of Human Rights.................................. 11 Chapter 2 Abuses by the Armed Forces and Police......................... 19 — ‘Militarisation’ Continues After Martial Law.............. 19 — Mindanao: The Bleeding Land....................................... 22 — ‘Salvaging’, Massacres, ‘Disappearances’ and‘Burnings’................................................................... 23 — Arbitrary Arrests and Torture....................................... 29 — ‘Hamletting’ ..................................................................... 35 Chapter 3 Criminal Law and Procédure.............................................. 40 — Criminal Law After Martial Law................................... 40 — Rebellion, Insurrection and Sédition....................... 41 — Illégal Assemblies and Associations.......................... 45 — Anti-Subversion Législation....................................... 48 — Rumour-mongering.................................................... 49 — Other Presidential Decrees.......................................... 50 — Criminal Procédure.......................................................... 53 — Arrest............................................................................ 53 — Bail................................................................................. 55 — Habeas Corpus.............................................................. 56 — The Preventive Détention Action............................ 57 — Redress for Abuses by the Armed Forces................... 60 3 Chapter 4 Independence of the Judiciary and Bar........................... 64 — The Judiciary................................................................... 64 — The Bar............................................................................... 78 Chapter 5 Economie and Social Rights.............................................. 82 — Trade Union Rights.......................................................... 83 — Labour Législation: Criticisms by the International Labour Organisation................... 84 — Right to strike.......................................................... 84 — Right to organise..................................................... 88 — Picketing................................................................... 89 — Arrest and Harassment of Trade Unionists............ 90 — Labour Conditions in the Bataan Export Processing Zone............................................................ 92 — Labour Conditions on Sugar Plantations (Ne gros)....................................................................... 96 — Land Reform.....................................................................100 — Health.................................................................................106 — General Health Situation............................................106 — Ministry of Health....................................................... 108 — Brain Drain of Health Personnel..............................111 — Arrest and Harassment of Médical Workers............111 — Tribal Lands..................................................................... 113 Conclusions and Recommendations.....................................................116 Conclusions............................................................................ 116 — Human Rights Abuses.....................................................116 — The Légal System............................................................117 — The Judiciary and Bar.....................................................119 — Economie and Social Rights.......................................... 120 Recommendations................................................................. 121 4 Abbreviations and Terms Barangay Smallest political unit of the Philippines BEPZ Bataan Export Processing Zone CLT Certificate of Land Transfer EP Emancipation Patent (an agrarian reform land title) FAO Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations F AS Committee ILO Committee on Freedom of Association Fiscal Public prosecutor FLAG Free Légal Assistance Group Haciendas Large land estâtes IBP Integrated Bar of the Philippines ICHDF Integrated Civilian Home Defense F orce ICJ International Commission of Jurists ILO International Labour Organisation INP Integrated National Police KBL Kilusang Bagong Lipunan, the political party of Président Marcos KMU Kilusang Mayo Uno (May lst Movement, a trade union organisa­ tion) MNLF Moro National Liberation Front MOLE Ministry of Labor and Employment NFSW National Fédération of Sugar Workers NPA New Peoples Army NLRC National Labor Relations Commission PANAMIN Presidential Assistance on National Minorities (a government agency) PC Philippine Constabulary PCO Presidential Commitment Order PD Presidential Decree PDA Preventive Détention Action PMP Pagakakaisang Manggagawang Pilipino (Solidarity of Filipino Workers, a trade union organisation) Sitio A hamlet TFD Task Force Detainees UNDP United Nations Development Programme UNICEF United Nations Children’s Fund WHO World Health Organisation (Note: Philippine spelling has been retained in the names of offices and organisations, and in quotations. Otherwise, in accordance with the practice of the International Commis­ sion of Jurists, Engüsh spelling has been adopted throughout the report.) 5 o â 6 Préfacé This report, based on a mission sent to the Philippines in January 1984, is the second to be issued on the situation of human rights in the Philippines by the International Commission