US embassy cable - 05MANILA5794

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MANILA 005794 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EAP/MTS, EAP/MLS, EAP/PD, R, DRL/IL 
DRL FOR DRL/SEA - PSAWCHYN 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM, PREL, PGOV, KDEM, KPAO, RP 
SUBJECT: EMBASSY MANILA MARKS HUMAN RIGHTS WEEK WITH ONLINE 
CHAT 
 
REF: A. MANILA 5749 
     B. MANILA 5604 
     C. MANILA 5521 
     D. MANILA 5346 
     E. STATE 202764 
 
1.  (U) Summary:  On December 12, Mission hosted an online 
discussion to mark Human Rights Week, with participation from 
the GRP's Commission on Human Rights and a local human rights 
NGO.  Participants in the chat reviewed U.S. advocacy of 
human rights and democracy, and the human rights situation in 
the Philippines.  The discussion was broad-ranging and 
lively.  Mission continues to conduct outreach activities for 
Human Rights Week; Poloff, for example, will speak to 
students on December 14 on U.S. promotion of human rights and 
democracy.  Mission is also posting on its website President 
Bush's December 9 statement commemorating Human Rights Day 
and Week.  End Summary. 
 
Online Chat 
----------- 
 
2.  (U) Mission hosted an online chat on human rights on its 
Virtual Consulate Davao website on December 12 to mark 
International Human Rights Week.  In addition to poloff and 
conoff, Bernie Larin, Information Officer of the NGO 
Philippine Human Rights Information Center (PhilRights), and 
Edgardo Diansuy, Director for NGO, Civil Society, and Media 
Cooperation at the Commission on Human Rights of the 
Philippines (CHR) also participated in the online discussion 
and answered questions.  (Note:  CHR is an independent GRP 
body that investigates human rights cases.  End Note.)  In 
addition to Mission's informing a wide array of contacts 
about the event beforehand, an article entitled "Reopened US 
Embassy sets rights 'chat'" publicized the event in the 
"Philippine Daily Inquirer," a major local newspaper, on 
December 11. 
 
3.  (U) Full transcripts of the chat session will be 
available on the Virtual Consulate website 
(http://www.usvirtualconsulatedavao.org.ph) on December 15. 
(Note:  Transcripts of previous virtual chats are also posted 
on the website.  End Note.)  Some highlights of the online 
discussion follow: 
 
-- Larin of PhilRights highlighted the killings of political 
activists and journalists during the year, as well as 
extrajudicial killings in Davao (see refs A, C-D), and 
claimed that there have been no human rights success stories 
in these cases.  Larin also emphasized that the government's 
primary responsibility was to protect its citizens and he 
asserted that the GRP was not doing enough in this area. 
 
-- Diansuy noted that the CHR's current priorities were 
protecting and promoting the rights of Internally Displaced 
Persons and indigenous peoples, and advocating the abolition 
of the death penalty in the Philippines.  He also emphasized 
that civil society and local communities play an important 
role in protecting and promoting human rights. 
 
-- Participants in the online discussion asked questions 
about proposed anti-terror legislation; capital punishment; 
the rights of migrants; the role of the CHR in investigating 
human rights complaints; human rights advocacy at the U.N.; 
the importance of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights; 
and the allegations that the U.S. practices or condones 
torture.  (Note: In regard to questions in the latter area, 
poloff cited the Secretary's recent remarks on this matter. 
End Note.) 
 
4.  (U) At the conclusion of the discussion, online 
participants expressed their appreciation for Mission's 
engagement with the public on the matter of human rights. 
One participant noted how important such events were in the 
"battle for hearts and minds."  Larin and Diansuy also 
expressed their interest in participating in future online 
chats on human rights. 
 
Upcoming Outreach Event 
----------------------- 
 
5.  (U) On December 14, poloff will speak to a group of 
approximately 100-150 students at Silliman University in 
Dumaguete, Negros Oriental Province in the central 
Philippines, on the topic of "Promoting Human Rights and 
Democracy:  A Cornerstone of U.S. Foreign Policy."  The event 
will be part of Silliman University's ongoing lecture series 
in commemoration of International Human Rights Week.  Poloff 
will also visit a USDOL-funded anti-child labor project while 
in Negros. 
 
6.  (U) Mission will seek further opportunities to highlight 
human rights issues, including during the rollout of the 
annual Human Rights Report in early 2006. 
Jones