US embassy cable - 05MANILA5604

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