Publication of a report: Human rights defenders remain steadfast in their struggle for justice amid pervasive culture of violence and impunity
Geneva-Paris, July 9, 2015 – Human rights defenders inthe Philippines, in particular those advocating for land and environmentalrights, remain under serious threat, the Observatory said in a new reportlaunched today. Defenders are systematically vilified, intimidated, andtargeted both by state and non-state actors.
The mission, conducted in thePhilippine’s Northern Mindanao region and South Cotabato Province found thatland rights defenders as well as indigenous rights defenders peacefullycampaigning to protect their ancestral lands from the impact of mining,deforestation, and other development projects are the most targeted categoriesof human rights defenders. They face extrajudicial killings, enforceddisappearances, intimidation, torture, fabricated criminal charges and threats.Land rights defenders are also constantly stigmatisedthrough long periods of incarceration on false and trumped-up charges.
“Thereport clearly shows that laws and the criminal justice system are on mostoccasions used to harass, detain, and imprison human rights defenders, effectivelyremoving them from the human rights arena. Despite the chilling effect thatthose actions have on the whole Filipino human rights community, human rightsdefenders remain steadfast in their strugglefor justice”, stated OMCTSecretary General Gerald Staberock.
“Killingsand attacks on Filipino human rights defenders are not isolated incidents. Theyreflect a pattern of threats, intimidation, physical assaults, extra-judicialkillings, and enforced disappearances against farmer leaders and peasants whoassert their legal rights stemming from the state’s agrarian reformsprogramme”, said FIDH President Karim Lahidji.
Theculture of violence and impunity continues due to thelack of accountability for past human rights violations which is the result ofchronic failure on the part of the police to rigorously investigate thoseabuses. In addition, lack of impartial police investigations and protractedjudicial proceedings inspire little faith in the criminal justice system.
In this regard, the report points toserious structural shortcomings in the Philippines’ criminal justice system:the lack of adequate remedies for human rights defenders to counter falseaccusations and arbitrary detentions; the insufficient number of judges leadingto interminable delays in trials; the absence of competent, committed, andaffordable legal representation; and the constant threats faced by lawyersrepresenting human rights defenders.
The report is available here: OBS_Report_Philippines_English
The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (OBS) wascreated in 1997 by FIDH and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT). Theobjective of this programme is to intervene to prevent or remedy situations ofrepression against human rights defenders.
For more information, pleasecontact:
· OMCT: Miguel Martín Zumalacárregui: + 41 (0) 22 809 4924
· FIDH: Lucie Kroening/Arthur Manet: + 33 (0) 1 43 5525 18