Geneva-Paris, February 28, 2019 - Human rights defenders in the Philippines have been increasingly subjected to killings, attacks, threats, and other forms of harassment under President Rodrigo Duterte, the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint FIDH-OMCT programme, said in a new report released today.
The
40-page report, titled “I’ll kill you along with drug addicts - President
Duterte’s war on human rights defenders in the Philippines”, documents the dramatic deterioration of the situation for human rights
defenders in the Philippines as a direct result of Duterte’s policies,
actions, and words.
“Alongside his infamous
‘war on drugs’, President Duterte has declared open season on human rights
defenders in the Philippines. It’s time for the international community to
press Duterte to end his war on human rights defenders and ensure
accountability for all attacks against them”, said FIDH Secretary-General Debbie Stothard.
Since President Rodrigo Duterte took office on June 30, 2016, his ‘war
on drugs’, the continued impunity for human rights abuses, the imposition of
martial law over the entire island of Mindanao since May 2017, and his crude
anti-human rights rhetoric have all directly contributed to an increasingly
hostile environment for human rights defenders.
“President Duterte’s
violent rhetoric has created a climate in which attacks against human rights
defenders are acceptable and perpetrators are never punished. Instead of
encouraging attacks, threats, and others acts of harassment against human
rights defenders, Duterte and his administration must immediately adopt urgent
measures to investigate such actions and protect defenders”, said OMCT Secretary General Gerald Staberock.
The number of land and environmental defenders, as well as journalists,
killed in the Philippines has increased dramatically during Duterte’s
presidency. From July 2016 to November 2018, at least 76 land and environmental
rights defenders and 12 journalists were killed in connection with their work.
Labour rights activists have also been the target of attacks and at least eight
of them have been killed on Duterte’s watch.
Civil society groups working on human rights issues have been demonised
and vilified under the current administration and reported increased
surveillance, intimidation, threats, and other acts of harassment by the
authorities.
Likewise, members of the independent Commission on Human Rights (CHR)
have been harassed and their mandate called into question by Duterte’s
administration. The credibility of United Nations (UN) experts has similarly
been attacked, with Duterte’s slandering of UN officials.
In the political sphere, the Department of Justice has pursued criminal
charges against a number of Duterte’s political opponents who have taken strong
pro-human rights stances. In an emblematic case, Senator Leila de Lima
has been detained without trial for more than two years under spurious charges.
President
Duterte has demonstrated utter disregard for human rights and the rule of law
by condoning, and even encouraging, extrajudicial killings and other serious
human rights violations. This behaviour has further reinforced the Philippines’
long-standing culture of impunity. In February 2018, the ongoing impunity for
Duterte’s ‘war on drugs’ killings was one of the key factors that triggered the
opening of a preliminary examination by the International Criminal Court (ICC).
The report urges authorities in the Philippines to put an end to the
prevailing culture of impunity for human rights violations, including
extrajudicial killings and attacks against human rights defenders. This
requires carrying out prompt, thorough, impartial, and transparent
investigations into all allegations of human rights violations against human
rights defenders.
The Observatory for the Protection of Human
Rights Defenders (the Observatory) was created in 1997 by FIDH and the World
Organisation Against Torture (OMCT). The objective of this programme is to
prevent or remedy situations of repression against human rights defenders. FIDH
and OMCT are both members of ProtectDefenders.eu, the European
Union Human Rights Defenders Mechanism implemented by international civil
society.
For more information, please contact:
·
FIDH: Eva Canan: + 33 6 48 05 91 57 - ecanan@fidh.org
· OMCT:
Iolanda Jaquemet / Delphine Reculeau: + 41 79 539 41 06 / + 41 22 809 49
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