[JURIST] The United Nations [official website] may sanction the Philippines [JURIST news archive] if its government continues to refuse to submit reports on human rights abuses in the country, the chairwoman of the Commission on Human Rights Philippines (CHRP) [official website] said Thursday. Purificacion Valera Quisumbing [official profile] said that Manila has not complied with UN requirements to release the reports since 1992, subjecting the country to possible "blacklisting" if it does not come forward with reasons for the long delay. Quisumbing cited a drastic rise in the number of kidnappings and killings of suspected rebels who are fighting Muslim separatists and communist rebels in the country.

The Asian Human Rights Commission [advocacy website] has requested that Manila's national police chief investigate the alleged role of soldiers in murders across the country, and Philippines President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo [official website; Wikipedia profile] is facing impeachment charges [JURIST report] related to human rights violations in the killings of leftist activists. But the charges against Arroyo are expected to fail because of her support in the lower house of the Philippines Congress. Reuters has more.