Threats and acts of intimidation against Ms. Cristina "Tinay" Palabay, Secretary General of Karapatan

Threats / Intimidation

Philippines

August 17, 2017

The Observatory for the Protection of Human RightsDefenders, a partnership of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) andFIDH, requests your urgent intervention in the following situation in thePhilippines.

Brief description of the situation:

The Observatory has been informed by reliable sourcesabout threats and acts of intimidation against Ms. Cristina “Tinay” Palabay, Secretary General of the human rights NGO“Karapatan”.

According to the information received, on July 20, 2017, at around 10:20 p.m., Ms. Cristina “Tinay” Palabay received a phone callfrom a man who repeatedly asked her if she was “Tinay Palabay” and refused totell her his name. He told Ms. Palabay that she should stop what she was doing,referring to her human rights work, because she was on a “list” of people whomthey considered as “courageous,” and that he called because she was within his“AOR” (interpreted as “area of responsibility”). He accused Ms. Palabay ofbeing involved in the alleged ambush of June 19, 2017, of the PresidentialSecurity Group by members of the New People’s Army (NPA) in Mindanao. Ms.Palabay denied knowledge of and involvement in the reported incident, as shewas at that time in Manila leading the preparations for peaceful protests aheadof President Rodrigo Duterte’s State of the Nation Address and his request foran extension of martial law in Mindanao. The caller also repeatedly asked aboutMs. Palabay’s whereabouts, and warned her to be careful because he would soonmeet her.

Ms. Palabay immediately recounted on Facebook the incident and madepublic the threats she received. After searching the caller’s cellphone number (+639260779448), it appeared that the number belongs to a member of the Armed Forcesof the Philippines Safety Battalion.

On August 16, 2017, a complaint to the Philippine Commission on HumanRights was submitted by Karapatan.

Ms. Palabay is an independent observer in the Joint Monitoring Committeeof the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the NationalDemocratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) on the Comprehensive Agreement onRespect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL). She isalso a member of the organizing committee of the Asia Pacific Forum on Women,Law and Development (APWLD), an advisor to the Urgent Action Fund for Women’sRights (UAF). In April 2017, Ms. Palabay and three other Filipino activistsconducted a speaking tour in the US on the human rights situation in thePhilippines and the GRP-NDFP peace talks. She also participated in the May 2017Carter Center Human Rights Defenders Forum, organized by former US PresidentJimmy Carter in Atlanta, US.

The Observatory strongly condemns the above-mentioned threats and actsof intimidation against Ms. Cristina“Tinay” Palabay, which seem to only aim at punishing her for herlegitimate human rights activities, in a context of increasing threats againsthuman rights defenders in the Philippines, where human rights defenders areregularly accused of being “enemies of the State”.

The Observatory calls upon the authorities in the Philippines totake immediate action to guarantee the physical and psychologicalintegrity of Ms. Cristina “Tinay” Palabay and to orderimmediate, impartial, independent, and effective investigations into the deaththreats and other acts of intimidation against her.

Actions requested:

Please write to the authorities in the Philippines urging them to:

i. Guarantee in all circumstances the physical andpsychological integrity of Ms. Cristina “Tinay” Palabay, as well as that of all human rights defenders in thePhilippines;

ii. Order immediate,impartial, independent, transparent, and effective investigations into thedeath threats and other acts of intimidation against Ms.Cristina “Tinay” Palabay, in order to identifythose responsible, bring them before an independent tribunal, and apply themthe sanctions provided by the law;

iii. Put an end to all acts harassment andintimidation against Ms. Cristina “Tinay” Palabay, and all human rights defenders in the Philippines,and ensure that they are able to carry out their activities withouthindrances;

iv. Comply with the provisions of the UN Declarationon Human Rights Defenders, adopted by the UN General Assembly on December 9,1998, in particular its Articles 1 and 12.2;

v. More generally, ensure in all circumstances respectfor human rights and fundamental freedoms in accordance with internationalhuman rights instruments ratified by the Philippines.

Addresses:

· H.E. RodrigoDuterte, President of the Republic of the Philpinnes, Fax: (+632)742-1641 / 929-3968,E-mail: op@president.gov.ph or send message through http://president.gov.ph/contact-us/

· Hon. Jesus Dureza,Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process, Fax:+63(2) 638 2216, Email: stqd.papp@opapp.gov.ph, feedback@opapp.net

· Ret. Maj. Gen.Delfin Lorenzana, Secretary, Department of National Defense, Fax:+63(2)982-5600, Email: info@dnd.gov.ph, webmaster@dnd.gov.ph

· Hon. VitalianoAguirre, Secretary, Department of Justice, Fax: (+632)521-1614, Email: communications@doj.gov.ph

· Hon. Jose LuisMartin Gascon, Chairperson, Commission on Human Rights, Fax: (+632)929 0102, Email: chairgascon.chr@gmail.com

· H.E. Mr. Evan P. Garcia, Ambassador, Permanent Mission of the Philippines to the United Nations Office inGeneva, Switzerland, Fax: +41 22 716 19 32
Email: mission@genevapm.ph

· Embassy of the Philippines inBrussels, Belgium, Fax: (+32) 02 345 64 25,E-mail: brusselspe@gmail.com

Please also write to the embassy of the Philippines inyour respective country.

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Geneva-Paris, August 17, 2017

Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting thecode of this appeal in your reply.

The Observatory for the Protection ofHuman Rights Defenders (the Observatory) was created in 1997 by the WorldOrganisation Against Torture (OMCT) and FIDH. The objective of this programmeis to intervene to prevent or remedy situations of repression against humanrights defenders. FIDH and OMCT are both members of ProtectDefenders.eu, the European Union Human RightsDefenders Mechanism implemented by international civil society.

To contact the Observatory, call the emergency line:

· E-mail: Appeals@fidh-omct.org

· Tel and fax FIDH + 33 (0) 1 43 55 25 18 / +33 1 43 55 18 80

· Tel and fax OMCT + 41 (0) 22 809 49 39 / + 41 22 80949 29