More than 500 people, including a former U.S. attorney general, were blacklisted as suspected terrorists and banned from entering the Philippines, said Human Rights Watch (HRW) in a statement on Friday.
The Philippines banned 504 people from entering the country in July and August, regarding them as linked to Al-Qaida or Taliban, according to a copy of a Philippines government blacklist the rights group obtained.
The Philippine Bureau of Immigration blacklist includes individuals from more than 50 countries, including expatriate Filipinos as well as individuals from America-based organizations such as Church World Service, the National Lawyers Guild and the Center for Constitutional Rights, HRW said.
It also includes individuals working for the International Labor Solidarity Mission, and from Philippine unions and civil society organizations such as Bayan and Gabriela/Gabnet.
Human Rights Watch accuses the Philippine government of using the list to stop critics of the government entering the country, saying "labeling peaceful critics as Al-Qaeda or Taliban only serves to sap public confidence in counter-terror measures and exposes them as a cover for suppressing dissent."
The blacklist went into effect on July 24 and was lifted on Aug. 10, said the group, adding that since the government did not publicly announce the blacklist, it is not clear whether the blacklist is in effect at present, HRW said.
The blacklist had existed only at the time of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations meetings in late 2006 and early 2007, and that it was no longer in effect, a Philippines Foreign Affairs Department official said.
Ramsey Clark, one of those blacklisted, is a former U.S. attorney general, Human Rights Watch added.
Philippines government blacklists burst into public view in December 2006 when Brian Campbell, an American lawyer for the International Labor Rights Fund, was denied entry into the Philippines.
Source: Xinhua
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