Terror and Torture in the Philippines
by
Frida Berrigan
Dissident Voice
February 24, 2003
Soon
after the terrorist attacks of September 2001, the Bush administration launched
the "second front" of its war on terrorism, deploying troops in the
Philippines for training and joint military exercises in late 2001 and early
2002. In the next few weeks, even as war in Iraq looms on the horizon, U.S.
troops will begin a major new counter-terror operation that, in the words of
one official, will "disrupt and destroy" Muslim rebels there. U.S.
Special Forces are expected to play a combat, not just advisory, role.
Since the opening of this
second front, the Bush administration has rapidly increased military and
economic support for the Philippines. President Bush recently announced a grant
of $78 million in new military aid, including $20 million to purchase U.S.
weapons and services and $21 million worth of secondhand arms. But the fact
that President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo is as committed to squashing domestic
insurgency movements as she is to fighting terrorism, raises concerns that
Washington could sideline human rights in the interest of preserving and
enhancing its partnership with Manila.
In the letter to President
Arroyo that accompanied the announcement of new military aid, Bush wrote
"while you have made important strides in the war against terror in your
country, additional terrorist attacks against civilians and the resulting loss
of innocent life mean there is still much to be done."
While he is right that there
is still "much to be done" in the Philippines, it is unlikely that
U.S. weapons are the right tools for making "important strides in the war
against terror." In fact, a new report from Amnesty International
documents the use of torture in the Philippines, suggesting that U.S. weapons
and military aid could increase incidents of terror.
Since September 11, 2001 the
United States has been working to reestablish military ties with Philippines
that were broken in 1992, when the Filipino Senate responded to the popular
movement demanding the ouster of U.S. bases by refusing to renew the leases for
U.S. bases in the archipelago. In 2001, U.S. Foreign Military Financing (FMF)
for the Philippines amounted to $2 million. After President Arroyo pledged her
support in the war on terrorism, aid jumped 10 times, increasing to $19 million
for 2002. President Bush's request for 2003 is just slightly higher at $20
million, but is accompanied by another $25 million in emergency support.
In addition, the U.S. has
supplied the Philippines with more than $100 million in military equipment,
including C-130B transport aircraft, 8 UH-1H utility helicopters, 350 grenade
launchers, a Coast Guard patrol vessel and mortars, sniper rifles, and
night-vision goggles. In addition to equipping the Filipino military with M-16
rifles, Washington also increased aid for training (IMET), almost doubling it
from $1.4 million in 2001 to $2.4 million in 2002. In 2002, the U.S. began a
series of major joint training exercises with the Filipino military that
involved thousands of troops on both sides.
At the same time, human
rights have become a major concern. The Amnesty International report
Philippines: Torture Persists, released in January, found "the persistence
of torture and ill treatment in the Philippines today… highlights the serious
discrepancy between the law and its application." Amnesty documents
torture techniques, including electro-shocks and the use of plastic bags to
suffocate detainees, and determines that, "those most at risk include
alleged members of armed opposition groups, their suspected sympathizers"
along with "ordinary criminal suspects."
Amnesty is not alone in
recognizing human rights abuses in the Philippines. According to the State
Department's 2001 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, "there were
serious problems in some areas. Members of the security services were
responsible for extrajudicial killings, disappearances, torture, and arbitrary
arrest and detention."
In its human rights report,
the State Department also acknowledged that U.S. Special Forces and military
advisers helped create an environment in which human rights abuses increased,
noting in their report that "there were allegations by human rights groups
that these problems worsened as the Government sought to intensify its campaign
against the terrorist Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG)."
It is likely that human
rights will continue to be an issue as long as U.S. military training of
Filipino soldiers takes place in insurgent strongholds. Most training missions
simulate battle conditions, but in the Philippines the exercises often take
place in real zones of conflict. Retired Philippine General Rodolfo Biazon
notes that the training operations use "live ammo," have a "live
enemy," and thus are "live missions." In October 2002, 800 U.S.
troops and at least as many Filipino soldiers began joint exercises on Luzon
Island, where the New People's Army (NPA), a Communist group designated a
terrorist organization by the U.S. State Department in August 2002, has its
base of operations. Even as the U.S. military maintained that the NPA was not
the target of the exercises, tensions were high and during that period an
attack on a nightclub resulted in the death of an American Green Beret and two
Filipinos.
In 2003, Manila and
Washington are planning at least 11 joint exercises, with the first now
underway at Clark Air Force base, the former U.S. military base. U.S. troops
will teach the Filipino military mountaineering, close quarter combat, and
jungle survival.
Anticipating the possibility
that U.S. military personnel deployed in the Philippines will be accused of
human rights abuses, Washington has offered Manila $30 million in additional
military aid in exchange for an agreement that would exempt U.S. soldiers
operating in the Philippines from the International Criminal Court.
Given the Filipino
military's track record on torture and human rights abuses, Washington cannot help
President Arroyo quell insurgency movements, fight the war on terrorism, and
uphold human rights all at the same. Perhaps insisting on respect for human
rights is a better tool for fighting terrorism than weapons and military
training.
Frida Berrigan is a Senior Research Associate at the Arms Trade
Resource Center, a project of the World
Policy Institute. She is also on the Executive Committee of the War Resisters League. EMail: berrigaf@newschool.edu