Philippines new abduction law welcomed

(Dec.27, 2012) In the Philippines, families of missing activists have urged the government to immediately implement a new law that criminalizes enforced disappearances.
Bayan Intise, son of a couple believed to have been abducted by state agents, said the challenge for the government is to prove that it can end abductions of people its agents brand enemies of the state.
President Benigno Aquino signed the "Anti-Enforced or Involuntary Disappearance Act of 2012" on Friday, two months after it was passed by Congress. The law criminalizes the arbitrary "arrest, detention, abduction or any other form of deprivation of liberty by agents of the state." State officials could face up to life imprisonment if found guilty of involvement.
Human rights groups say more than 1,000 political activists and suspected supporters of insurgent groups have disappeared since the 1972-1986 Ferdinand Marcos dictatorship. This includes more than 200 under the administration of former president Gloria Arroyo.
Human Rights Watch said the new law is the first in Asia to criminalize enforced disappearances and challenged Aquino to "move quickly to enforce" it. "Effective enforcement of this new law by the Philippine government will deter enforced disappearances and address the deep-seated problem of impunity for human rights abusers," Brad Adams, the group's director for Asia, said in a statement.