September 21, 2021 — “The imposition of martial law under former President Ferdinand Marcos brought about thousands of cases of killings and human rights violations in the Philippines, and decades after, the Duterte Administration’s war on the Filipino people and lack of effective domestic remedies caused more human rights violations than the 14-year Marcos Dictatorship.
And as before, justice is yet to be served.”
This is what Peter Murphy, International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP) Global Chairperson, said as the Philippines marks the 49th year of the declaration of martial law in the Philippines.
ICHRP is leading groups and individuals in the international community this Global Day of Action Against Fascism in the Philippines in solidarity with the Filipino people’s struggle against the tyranny of Duterte.
Murphy further elaborated the crimes against humanity Duterte committed throughout the years. In the call for support for the Global Day of Action Against Fascism in the Philippines, he said:
“Under the US-Duterte regime, martial law was declared in Mindanao four years ago leading to an alarming increase in human rights violations. Hundreds of thousands of Moro people were displaced and turned into refugees by the wanton bombing and destruction of Marawi City at the hands of the Philippine Army. Indigenous people’s schools have been shuttered and their communities remain under attack and occupation by the Philippine Army. While peasants in Negros and Panay islands are being arrested and massacred as they defend their right to till and their ancestral domain. In the cities, Duterte has unleashed a war against the poor through his drug war which has now claimed more than 27,000 lives including children. Worse, the country is now one of the most dangerous places in the world for human rights defenders.”
This is also reflected in the findings of the First, Second, and Third Reports of the Independent International Commission of Investigation into Human Rights Violations in the Philippines (Investigate PH).
“We call on Duterte and his cohorts to end the repression now in the Philippines and to take accountability for all the human rights violations they committed against the Filipino people,” Murphy said, as the Philippine Government refuses to cooperate with the formal investigation launched by the International Criminal Court (ICC).
“We challenge him to face the ICC,” he added.
ICHRP also continues to call on governments of the international community to stop supporting the tyranny of Duterte through their military aid to the Philippines.
“As we commemorate the imposition of martial law in the Philippines and the thousands of its victims who have yet to be served justice, we would like to remind Duterte that the world is watching. He is the new face of dictatorship in the Philippines, and as history taught us, dictators eventually fall.” Murphy said.
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Media Contact:
Peter Murphy – ICHRP Chairperson +61 418 312 301