A lawyer for Filipino comfort women in World War II on Wednesday slammed Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto for his “crass” and “obscene” statement that the sexual service they provided for the Japanese soldiers was “necessary” to keep them in check.
The New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) has criticized the appointment of a spokesperson for the Armed Forces of the Philippines who, it said, had not been able to improve the human rights record of the military.
Saying the Philippines was a “torture risk state,” an official of the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has criticized the Hong Kong Immigration Department for its decision denying the claim for protection of Myrna Reblando, widow of slain Manila Bulletin correspondent Bong Reblando, one of the victims in the Maguindanao massacre.
As soon as the U.S. Senate introduced the much-anticipated immigration reform bill early Wednesday morning, key stakeholders in labor, business and immigrant rights communities hailed the measure as a significant and substantive step towards fixing a broken immigration system.
Filipino Americans, veterans of World War II and members of the Jewish community—who thanked the Philippines for its wartime generosity– mobbed the two back-to-back world premiere screenings of the documentary film “Rescue in the Philippines: Refuge from the Holocaust,” on April 7 at the New People’s Cinema in this city.
With 14 Filipino mothers dying every day due to pregnancy complications, a respected international human rights organization and civil society groups on Wednesday scored a Supreme Court order stopping the implementation of the reproductive health law, saying it was putting at risk the lives of women in the country.
Malaysian Attorney General Abdul Gani Patail announced Saturday that an investigation into the reported abuses by Malaysian security forces in Sabah has started, the Malaysian state news agency Bernama reported.
More stories about the alleged brutality of the Malaysian police have surfaced despite a denial by the Malaysian government of a Philippine Daily Inquirer (PDI) story detailing how Filipinos were being treated in Sabah.
Philippine officials have asked Malaysia to clarify news reports that Filipinos in Malaysia’s eastern Sabah state were being mistreated while authorities crack down on Filipino gunmen staking a claim on the resource-rich region.
The Philippines expressed “grave concern” Sunday over allegations that innocent Filipinos in Malaysia are being abused after being caught up in fighting in Sabah with followers of an obscure sultanate.
European Union Ambassador Guy Ledoux called journalists “true defenders of human rights” but in the Philippines, the continuing attacks against media workers and the government’s failure to legislate the Freedom of Information Act remain a concern even after the country has transitioned its way out of an authoritarian rule to democracy.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Wednesday added to international pressure on the authoritarian government in Laos to investigate the disappearance a month ago of a prominent social activist and reunite him with his family.
