wfn.org | WCC NEWS: Philippines: WCC denounces extrajudicial killings of church lay ministers

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>World Council of Churches - News

WCC DENOUNCES EXTRAJUDICIAL KILLINGS OF CHURCH LAY MINISTERS IN  THE

>PHILIPPINES

>For immediate release: 30 June 2010

The World Council of Churches (WCC) general secretary Rev. Dr Olav  Fykse
Tveit has denounced the extrajudicial killings of Benjamin Bayles  and
Jovelito Agustin, both lay ministers of the Philippine Independent
Church.

In a 29 June letter to President-elect Benigno Aquino III, Tveit  urged "the
Philippines government to keep its commitment to international human
rights instruments and put an end to the killings and to the culture  of
impunity by prosecuting the perpetrators and granting justice to  the
victims of human rights violations".

Aquino is being inaugurated today. He succeeds Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

Bayles and Agustin were "active lay ministers, known in their churches  as
outspoken advocates of human dignity and of the rights of the most
marginalized", Tveit stated. Bayles, a human rights advocate, and  Agustin,
a broadcaster who defended workers' rights, were murdered by suspected
paramilitary groups on 14 and 15 June, respectively.

In denouncing the killings of Bayles and Agustin and reiterating  his
concern about the "ongoing extra-judicial killings, enforced
disappearances and continuing impunity in the Philippines", the  WCC
general secretary has joined the National Council of Churches in  the
Philippines (NCCP) and the Philippine Independent Church (or Iglesia
Filipina Independiente, IFI).

According to the Rev. Rex Reyes, NCCP general secretary, the circumstance s
of the deaths of Bayles and Agustin "point to the pattern of continuing
impunity against progressive organizations and their members, and
journalists who raise critical voices".

For the Most Rev. Godofredo David, IFI obispo maximo, Bayles and  Agustin
"are the latest victims of a systematic attempt to silence the Iglesia
Filipina Independiente […] Their death clearly points to  a
re-intensification of political killings and worsening political
repression and human rights violations in the Philippines".

David has called on the President-elect Aquino to "hold the government  of
Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo accountable for the numerous cases of political
repression and killings in the Philippines under the military's
counter-insurgency policy".

The human rights group Karapatan (Link:

http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=7abca0cec3f8d4714840 )  (Alliance for 
the Advancement of People's
Rights) reports that 1,118 extrajudicial killings were documented  in the
Philippines between 2001 and October 2009.

During that same period, Karapatan recorded a total of 204 victims  of
enforced disappearance and 1,026 victims of torture. The human rights
organization denounces thousands of cases of forcible evacuation  and
displacement due to the military operations in the rural areas.

According to Karapatan, there have been six extrajudicial killings  in July
including those of Bayles and Agustin.

Full text of the letter of the WCC general secretary to the President-ele ct
of the Philippines (Link:
http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=2be2260c4786aa88e641 )

WCC member churches in the Philippines (Link:

http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=9af378f6b945aaddc562 )

Ecumenical delegation from the Philippines speaks out on human rights
abuses (8 June 2010) (Link:
http://www.oikoumene.org/index.php?RDCT=c108114bae06d02979d5
)

The World Council of Churches promotes Christian unity in faith,  witness and 
service for a just and peaceful world. An ecumenical fellowship  of churches 
founded in 1948, today the WCC brings together 349 Protestant,
Orthodox, Anglican and other churches representing more than 560  million 
Christians in over 110 countries, and works cooperatively with the  Roman 
Catholic Church. The WCC general secretary is Rev. Dr Olav Fykse  Tveit, from 
the [Lutheran] Church of Norway. Headquarters: Geneva, Switzerland.

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