N. Zealand MPs slam Arroyo: RP 'a disaster area for rights'

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo was chastised Monday by opposition parliamentarians in New Zealand who called the Philippines “a disaster area for human rights." Mrs Arroyo is attending the Asia-Pacific Interfaith Religious Dialogue on May 29 to 30 at Waitangi, where she will also meet with New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark. “Hundreds of trade unionists, priests, journalists and human rights advocates have been systematically murdered since Arroyo took office in 2001. Last year Amnesty International condemned Arroyo’s failure both to investigate this wave of extra-judicial killings or to prosecute the perpetrators – and it accused her of ‘perpetuating a cycle of human rights violations'," Green Party foreign affairs spokesman Keith Locke said in a statement. The Green Party is part of the opposition in the New Zealand parliament and has six members in the 121-seat body. “By attending an interfaith dialogue at Waitangi, Arroyo cannot duck responsibility for the atrocious human rights record in the Philippines, which extends to members of her House of Representatives," Locke said. The New Zealand parliamentarian cited the case of Anakpawis Representative Crispin Beltran who has been in “hospital arrest" at the Philippine Heart Center in Quezon City for more than a year while facing rebellion charges. “She would have a lot more credibility if she tried practicing similar tolerance at home," he added. The unexplained killings in the Philippines also alarmed Mrs Clark. She raised the same concerns on the human rights situation in the country under the Arroyo administration, including Beltran's detention, during the East Asian Summit in Cebu last January. Also, human rights expert Philip Alston said that “virtual impunity" prevails in the country and that the killings were “convincingly attributed" to the military. Mr Alston, the United Nations' special rapporteur, told the UN last March that “the military and many key officials have buried their collective heads in the sand and announced that business will continue as usual". After her visit to New Zealand, Mrs Arroyo will go to Australia to meet Prime Minister John Howard. She will stay in Australia until May 31. -GMANews.TV