Today, as we commemorate the International Day to End Impunity, the International Coordinating Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICCHRP) reiterates its commitment to demand justice for the victims of the Ampatuan massacre and all extrajudicial killings in the Philippines. Network members all over the world, have organized different forms of actions to express solidarity with the victims and demand the current Philippine government to deliver justice not only to the victims of the Ampatuan massacre but to all victims of human rights violations as well.

Impunity continues because the perpetrators are not made accountable for their crimes against the people. We call on President Benigno Simeon Aquino to prosecute former president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo not only for plunder but for the numerous human rights violations committed during her term. Moreover, he should account for the continuing human rights violations committed already under his watch. He must put an end to the killings! He must put an end to impunity now!

We remain committed to continuously raise awareness about the situation in the Philippines and harness international support for the Filipino people's struggle for human rights and just and lasting peace.

Please find below and attached a petition which may be used by concerned organizations and individuals in lobbying their own governments and relevant international institutions to assist the Filipino people's demand for justice for the Ampatuan Massacre and all victims of extrajudicial killings. We encourage individuals to get involved in the campaign for human rights in your localities, we hope you may coordinate with the ICCHRP member nearest you: http://www.humanrightsphilippines.net/about/members/If you wish to be included in the international petition, kindly email icchrp@gmail.com with your full name and organization/position (if applicable), and your base country. For those who have already signed in, our most heartfelt gratitude!

In solidarity,
Angie M. Gonzales
for the ICCHRP Secretariat

 On 23 November 2009, the international community was shocked and outraged over a horrific crime in the Philippines that claimed the lives of 58 people, including 33 journalists and two women lawyers in a town called Ampatuan, in the province of Maguindanao, Southern Philippines. The Ampatuan massacre is the worst single incident of media killings and election-related violence in the world in recent history.

We, the undersigned journalists, lawyers, church people, community leaders, human rights, justice and peace advocates from around the world, add our voices with the Filipino people in demanding swift justice for the 58 Ampatuan massacre victims and all victims of extra-judicial killings in the Philippines.

Philippine President Benigno Simeon Aquino III vowed justice for the Ampatuan massacre victims and the numerous victims of extra-judicial killings under the nine-year watch of his predecessor, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

While the Ampatuan massacre victims' families are awaiting justice, we are dismayed and outraged over news of more extrajudicial killings. On 17th October, the murder of Italian missionary Fr. Fausto Tentorio, PIME, once again proved the prevailing climate of impunity in the Philippines. Fr. Tentorio is the 54th victim of extra-judicial killings under the Aquino government, according to the human rights group Karapatan.

The continuing threats to human rights and human lives in the Philippines diminish our humanity. The killings must stop.

We support moves to hold former President Gloria Arroyo accountable to the human rights victims, their families and the international community, for the massive human rights abuses committed with impunity during her administration

Moreover, we call on the governments of the European Union, Japan, Korea, the United Kingdom, Australia, Mexico, Algeria, New Zealand, Canada and the USA² to once again exert pressure on the government of President Benigno Aquino III to stop the killings (among other human rights violations).

We challenge foreign governments to give teeth to their statements against the culture of impunity in the Philippines. We support calls for international economic and political sanctions on the Philippine government for failing to stop the killings.

In particular, we call on the governments of the United States, Australia and others to stop military aid and all forms of support that could be used for private armies of political warlords, and death squads in the country.

¹This petition is initiated by the International Coordinating Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICCHRP) – a global network of organizations campaigning for human rights in the Philippines. For more information, please visit: http://www.humanrightsphilippines.net/about/members/
²including United Nations country missions who raised questions and comments about the widely reported human rights violations in the country during the 2008 UN Universal Periodic Review of the Philippines: France, Norway, Slovenia, Japan, New Zealand, UK, Canada, Latvia, Azerbaijan, Brazil, Algeria, Korea, Australia, Switzerland, Netherlands, Mexico, and even the US.