Cablegate: Human Rights Day 2005 in the Philippines
This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MANILA 005604
SIPDIS
DEPT FOR EAP/MTS, EAP/PD, DRL/SEA - PSAWCHYN
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM PREL ODIP PGOV APER KPAO
SUBJECT: HUMAN RIGHTS DAY 2005 IN THE PHILIPPINES
REF: STATE 202764
1. (U) This message is in response to reftel requesting
descriptions of any planned Human Rights Day (December 10)
activities by local individuals and groups or embassy
personnel.
2. (U) Post is commemorating Human Rights Day and Human
Rights Week (December 4-10) with a number of human
rights-related activities on or around these dates. These
activities are a part of Mission's ongoing efforts to promote
democracy and human rights in the Philippines. The
Commission on Human Rights of the Philippines (CHR) and
various Philippine human rights NGOs are also planning
activities to mark this week/day. The activities are
detailed in the following paragraphs.
Embassy Events
--------------
3. (U) On or before December 9, PAS will officially launch
the "Democracy Summer Fest" program scheduled to take place
from April-June 2006. This program, funded under the Human
Rights and Democracy Small Grants Fund, aims to promote human
rights and democracy among young Filipinos aged 18-21. To
mark Human Rights Day, PAS will distribute media releases
about the program and send letters to colleges and
universities inviting them to nominate potential
participants. The release will be posted on the embassy's
public website
(http://usembassy.state.gov/posts/rp1/wwwhmai n.html) and on
the website of the U.S. Virtual Consulate in Davao
(http://www.usvirtualconsulatedavao.org.ph). Post will also
place on both websites messages from the Secretary and/or
President Bush marking Human Rights Day, when they are issued.
4. (U) Post is also organizing a series of speaking events
to coincide with the start of Human Rights Week. Ms. Goli
Ameri, U.S. Senior Adviser to the 60th Session of the U.N.
General Assembly and U.S. Public Delegate to the 61st Session
of the U.N. Commission on Human Rights, will speak to select
audiences on the topic of democracy and human rights:
-- December 1: Roundtable Discussion on "Human Rights:
Democracy and the Rule of Law." The audience will be
representatives from human rights NGOs and advocacy groups;
-- December 2: Roundtable Discussion with the Commission on
Human Rights on "The U.S. Proposal to Replace the U.N.
Commission on Human Rights with a Human Rights Council." The
audience will be the Commissioners, Directors, and staff of
the CHR;
-- December 2: Roundtable Discussion at the National Defense
College of the Philippines on U.N. Reform and the Proposed
Human Rights Council. The audience will be some 60 students
and faculty members of the college.
5. (U) Post will host an online chat session on human rights
on the Davao Virtual Consulate website before or immediately
after December 10 in honor of Human Rights Day.
6. (U) During the week, Emboffs will also participate in
events being held by local groups to mark Human Rights Week
and Day (paras 7-9).
Local Activities
----------------
7. (U) The CHR is conducting a series of events around the
country on the theme "Human Rights: Respect, Promote,
Enforce," including a seminar on human rights action planning
by local governments, a conference on capacity building in
the juvenile justice system, a forum on the death penalty, a
program (conducted in multiple locations) for groups that
work with internally displaced persons, and the launch of a
human rights film festival in partnership with the Quezon
City government in Metro Manila.
8. (U) As part of its celebration of "National Human Rights
Consciousness Week," mandated by Republic Act 9201, the CHR
is honoring human rights activists Haydee Yorac, the late
Chair of the Presidential Commission on Good Governance, and
Sister Mariani Dimaranan, former Chair of Task Force
Detainees of the Philippines, at a ceremony on December 7 at
the House of Representatives. The ceremony will include the
inauguration of a human rights resource center, named after
Yorac, in the House -- proposed in House Resolution No. 1002
and approved by the Committee on Human Rights on November 21.
9. (U) Some of the other activities planned by local NGOs
are:
-- December 4: National Day of Prayer for the Disappeared,
Families of Victims of Involuntary Disappearance (FIND);
-- December 5: Launch of the Philippine Alliance of Human
Rights Advocates (PAHRA) website;
-- December 5: Forum and press conference on disappeared
persons, Task Force Detainees of the Philippines (TFDP);
-- December 6: Rally by relatives of disappeared persons at
Congress, TFDP;
-- December 10: 57th Human Rights Day Rally at Plaza Miranda
in Manila, PAHRA;
-- December 10: Rally/Parade for "Celebrating Pride and
Rights" in Malate, Manila, PAHRA;
-- December 12: Forum on the Philippine human rights
situation, Philippine Working Group for an ASEAN Human Rights
Mechanism.
Jones