A group of foreign lawyers found government efforts to address human rights violations in the Philippines wanting.

The conclusion from the International Fact-finding Mission organized by the Dutch lawyers for Lawyers Foundation found that government agencies are ambivalent in their efforts to abet and solve extrajudicial killings, particularly in cases involving the military and police as perpetrators.

The study cited data from the National Union of People’s Lawyers and the Counsels for the Defense of Liberties that 15 judges and 22 lawyers have been killed since 2001. Judges and lawyers are also being subjected to death threats and reportedly included in the military’s order of battle or under surveillance.

This is the second time that the Dutch organization of lawyers had been to the Philippines to look into extrajudicial killings of judges and lawyers. The first was in June 2006.