Honourable members of the Canadian House of Commons subcommittee on human rights, I am Dr. Merry Mia-Clamor. I am a medical doctor and coordinator of the Council on Health and Development. We are an organization of community health workers serving the poor and hard-to-reach communities. Our services are essential because the government is not providing basic health services in the communities.
Sadly, community health workers are among the groups targeted by the military in its campaign of vilification. Five years ago, the UN special rapporteur, Philip Alston, documented that a wide range of groups, including human rights advocates and lawyers, religious workers, women, indigenous people, farmers, and students, are classified as enemies of the state, which makes them targets of extrajudicial killings, abduction, and imprisonment.
The human rights situation in the Philippines remains grim despite the election promise of our new President Aquino to resolve the cases of extrajudicial killing and end human rights violations. In fact, during the one and one-half years of the Aquino administration, human rights groups have already documented 68 victims of extrajudicial killings, over 55 cases of torture, and nine victims of enforced disappearances.
Under the government's counter-insurgency program, now referred to as Operation Plan Bayanihan, entire communities are militarized; people are threatened, harassed, arbitrarily arrested, and displaced. Even children and youths are subjected to harassment by military observers posted in classrooms. From a health rights perspective, this situation does not promote a safe environment for children in the development of dignified and healthy communities.
I am a survivor of the violence inflicted by the government's counter-insurgency program and vicious vilification campaign. On February 6, 2010, I was with colleagues during medical training in the rural area of Morong. All 43 of us were arrested by the state security forces using a faulty warrant. We were falsely labelled as members of the rebel movement, blindfolded and handcuffed, held incommunicado for six days, and denied counsel.
The military filed false charges against us for illegal possession of firearms and explosives to justify our arrest and detention without bail. We were detained in a military camp for almost three months, where we were repeatedly interrogated without counsel, subjected to various forms of coercion, intimidation, and indignities, as well as psychological torture. The detention centre was damp, overcrowded, poorly ventilated, and infested with rats. Two of my colleagues, Carina Oliveros and Mercy Castro, gave birth while in detention.
Some of our relatives also experienced threats and intimidation. We were denied their visits, and those who were allowed to visit us were interrogated and subjected to the indignity of being strip-searched.
On December 10, international Human Rights Day, as a result of strong pressure from the local and international human rights groups, including Canadian organizations, the Philippine president ordered the Department of Justice to withdraw the case filed against us. That we are free today shows the importance of international pressure in promoting justice and human rights in the Philippines in order to ensure that commitments to human rights treaties are implemented.
Together with five of my colleagues who endured this ordeal, I have filed a court case against the past President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and top officials of her administration for torture and violation of our constitutional and statutory rights, including illegal arrest and detention. We are taking this action not only to hold accountable the people responsible for these crimes but also to assert that we cannot and will not allow the current climate of impunity to continue.
My colleagues and I are here to appeal to the subcommittee to urge the Canadian government to speak clearly against the violence and abuses committed against innocent citizens. Canada has a role to play in ending the human rights violations in the Philippines because of its strong bilateral relations and significant investment interests in the country.
The vilification and arbitrary arrest and detention of innocent people like me must be stopped. Canada should ensure that the Philippines respects its human rights commitments, because this will also ensure that Canada's trade and investment, including mining, does not worsen the human rights situation in communities.
Thank you for your time today.