30.06.2011

De Lima promises efforts for human rights

All actors in the civil society of the Philippines should engage for reconciliation and justice, Leila de Lima, the minister of justice of the Philippines, said at a human rights conference in Berlin. De Lima promised to make all possible efforts to fight impunity. In recent years several human rights activists in the Philippines have been killed, imprisoned, tortured or harassed. The United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP), a member of UEM, has instituted proceedings against former president Gloria M. Arroyo because of her "political responsibility for human rights violations" and demands compensation for the victims and their relatives. At the panel moderated by UEM executive secretary Dr Jochen Motte Bishop Jaime Moriles (UCCP) told about the experiences of the victims of human rights' violations and their relatives. "We do not see any real change", he said. "We still get reports from several people being intimitaded and harassed." The Action Network Human Rights-Philippines pursues the aim to exert an influence on decision makers in Germany and EU, through lobbying and public relations, to improve the human rights situation in the Philippines. UEM is a member of the network.