Police, church, civic groups gather for dialogue on EJK

HONORING Human Rights Day yesterday, a civil society organization (CSO) held a dialogue on extra-judicial killings (EJK), the first of its kind in the country.

Spearheaded by Kaabag sa Sugbo, the dialogue was participated in by the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) 7, Cebu Provincial Police Office (CPPO) and the Archdiocese of Cebu.

It was an offshoot of an 80-day campaign to end violence against women and children in the country.

“We’re always concerned at the governance frame of everything. The gap we see right now is the monitoring aspect. It’s important to put a face on the victims, but it’s also important to put face on the families left behind. That’s the reason why we attempted this coming together to try to find ways forward,” Kaabag network coordinator Catherine Ruiz said in an interview.

She said addressing EJK is not only the concern of the government and the police, but everybody’s.

Through rights-based approaches at the barangay level, the matter can be brought forward, she said.

Progress

She said the CSOs want to see progress in the investigations of alleged EJKs and to see if the police operations conducted followed the standard rules of engagement.

They also want to receive status updates, especially on vigilante-type killings, to see where they can help.

To discuss further the issue, Kaabag will hold early next year another dialogue, this time with the Police Regional Office (PRO) 7.

CHR, for its part, said the government, if it fails to investigate alleged EJK, is also committing the same crime.

Slap

CHR chief investigator Leo Villarino, in a separate interview, said this would be a great “slap in the face” for a government that aims to protect its people.

“Turning the head to the other direction is also an EJK because the government failed to investigate the cases it was in the position to probe. We can hold the government accountable for that,” he said.

Since establishing an anti-EJK task force last May, CHR has recorded 328 EJK cases.

Of the number, 37 are docketed cases, or undergoing formal investigation.

Villarino said that while they had a hard time getting investigation reports for the last few months from some police units, the probe has been going well.

“We’re happy that the police are helping us. While the probe on some cases are slower than the others due to lack of witnesses, uncooperative members of the victim’s family...our police are cooperative. However, we are yet to see concrete results from their investigation,” he said.

Last Friday, the PRO 7 said it will compel its stations to comply with CHR’s subpoenas to hasten the investigations. RTF