http://www.karapatan.org/UN+Rights+Expert+Told+Impunity+Persists+in+Philippines

Geneva, Switzerland – Law Prof. Philip Alston, newly appointed UN Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights, and Geneva-based country missions of Ireland, Austria, Canada, Norway and The Netherlands met with Filipino rights advocates participating in the 26th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva on the continuing extrajudicial killings, labeling, filing of trumped-up charges against activists, poverty and loss of livelihood of farm workers and forced evictions of urban poor communities in the Philippines.

In 2007, Alston, who was then the UN Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions, went to the Philippines for an official visit to investigate the cases of extrajudicial killings under the Gloria Arroyo administration.

In what would be referred to as the Alston report, he pointed out the responsibility of the government, military and police in the targeted killings and disappearances of hundreds of political activists and those tagged as rebel supporters as part of the counter-insurgency campaign of the State. He recommended a checklist of concrete steps that the Philippine government should do to address and abate the horrendous rights violations.

Cristina Palabay, secretary general of Karapatan and member of the delegation of the Ecumenical Voice for Peace and Human Rights in the Philippines (EcuVoice), told Alston that “seven years after his trendsetting report that continues to reverberate in the human rights community, most of his recommendations remain unheeded or just given lip service as impunity persists.”

The delegation informed Alston and the country missions that the “extrajudicial killings, arbitrary arrests and detentions, torture and enforced disappearances of human rights defenders, political activists, and community leaders resisting large scale development projects, particularly indigenous leaders, have severely escalated in 2014.”

They said that in the first quarter of the year, human rights group Karapatan has recorded 21 victims of extrajudicial killings and 23 victims of frustrated killings under the Noynoy Aquino administration.
EcuVoice also submitted to Alston report on the impoverished conditions of the 2,102 farmworkers who lost their livelihood in Hacienda Luisita and were dislocated through the maneuvers of the Cojuangco-Aquino family in implementing the Supreme Court order to redistribute the lands in the hacienda. Several complaints on the forced eviction of the urban poor in many communities in Metro Manila were also submitted to Alston. Typhoon Haiyan survivor Rev. Irma Balaba emphasized that seven months after the typhoon, hunger, absence of decent shelter/housing, and a dearth of livelihood pervade among several communities in the Eastern Visayas region.

Alston expressed keen concern over these reports and said he will look into these issues complementary to what other UN human rights experts called mandate-holders would do.

The delegation made the following recommendations to Alston and the Missions:

1. To express strong concern about the escalation of extrajudicial killings, illegal arrests and detention, filing of false charges, forced evacuation and other human rights violations in the Philippines;
2. To enjoin the Philippine Government to effectively respond to the Concluding Observations and Recommendations of the 2012 Universal Periodic Review, and take effective measures to end impunity and eliminate extrajudicial killings;
3. To exhort the Philippine Government to end the counter-insurgency program and stop the policy of vilification of human rights defenders and political activists;
4. To call for the resumption of the Peace Talks between the Government of the Philippines and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines, and the release of NDFP peace consultants, including Benito Tiamzon and Wilma Austria.

Edre U. Olalia, Secretary General of the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL) and member of the delegation, opined that if the legal and judicial environment on top of the political, socio-economic reasons for the violations continue, then the very same issues and concerns raised during the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) in 2008 and 2012 will haunt and hound the Aquino government in the next UPR in 2016. “The present legal and judicial system must be truly responsive in delivering effective justice to the victims, make the perpetrators accountable, and send the crystal-clear message that committing human rights violations will be decisively dealt with. Otherwise, it will be more like the same, if not worse,” Olalia observed.

The other members of the EcuVoice delegation at the 26th sessions of the UN HRC are Dr. Angie Gonzales, Atty. Mary Kristerie A. Baleva, and Julie Palaganas of the International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines.

References:
Cristina Palabay
Karapatan Secretary General
c/o +41774559698

Edre U. Olalia
NUPL Secretary General
c/o +41779773999

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PUBLIC INFORMATION DESK
publicinfo@karapatan.org
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Alliance for the Advancement of People’s Rights
2nd Flr. Erythrina Building
#1 Maaralin corner Matatag Streets
Central District, Diliman
Quezon City, PHILIPPINES 1101
Telefax: (+63 2) 4354146
Web: http://www.karapatan.org

KARAPATAN is an alliance of human rights organizations and programs, human rights desks and committees of people’s organizations, and individual advocates committed to the defense and promotion of people’s rights and civil liberties.  It monitors and documents cases of human rights violations, assists and defends victims and conducts education, training and campaign.

Revelations of Philippines rights violations continue at UN Human Rights Council

06/14/2014, Geneva, Switzerland – International human rights group Civicus and Philippine-based rights group Karapatan issued on Thursday an appeal to the 47-member states of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) to urge the Philippine government to stop the attacks against indigenous peoples and environmental activists in Talaingod, Davao del Norte, and elsewhere in the country.

In an oral intervention delivered by Karapatan secretary general Cristina Palabay before the UNHRC and the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights during the 26th Human Rights Council sessions in Geneva, she cited the forcible evacuation of indigenous Manobos in Talaingod, in the southern island of Mindanao, caused by military operations and bombings.

Palabay indicated that the Manobos’ refusal to allow mining companies to encroach on their lands exposed them to threats and harassment.

“They have become victims of the Aquino government’s counter-insurgency program, Oplan Bayanihan, and they are tagged as members or supporters of the New People’s Army,” she stated, in her oral intervention during the interactive dialogue with the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights.

“Mining companies, including Indophil Resources, have applications covering the land where the indigenous Manobos live, for gold, silver, copper, and other minerals. Their plight is akin to the situation of the indigenous communities where SMI Glencore/Xstrata has mining projects. Anti-mining activists, indigenous leaders and children were killed by military and paramilitary groups, and justice remains elusive for them,” Palabay added.

The rights groups appealed to the UN Human Rights Council to urge the Philippine government to recognize and respect the rights of communities and human rights defenders, who bear the full adverse impact of business, especially big mining, activities. They asked the Council to call on  the Philippine  government  to  adhere  to  international  human  rights  standards,  including  the UN Guiding  Principles  on Business  and Human Rights.

Palabay also spoke on the issue in a side event on civil society space and protection of human rights defenders jointly organized by international organisations Article19, CIVICUS, ICNL, ECNL, the World Movement for Democracy and the Permanent Mission of Ireland. Mr. Maina Kiai, UN special rapporteur on freedom of assembly and association, and Mr. Frank la Rue, UN special rapporteur on freedom of expression, were also in the said panel.

Citing Karapatan’s documentation and reports of London-based NGO Global Witness, Palabay said that aside from extrajudicial killings of indigenous peoples and activists, arrests based on false charges of environmental and anti-mining activists are on the rise. She cited the arrests and detention of physicist Kim Gargar and Tampakan anti-mining activist Romeo Rivera.

Palabay is among the members of the  Ecumenical Voice for Peace and Human Rights (EcuVoice) delegation of human rights defenders and church workers at the 26th sessions of the UN HRC.  Joining her are Atty. Edre U. Olalia, Secretary General of the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL), Rev. Irma Balaba, assistant programme secretary of the Christian Unity and Ecumenical Relations programme of the National Council of Churches in the Philippines; and Dr. Angie Gonzales, Atty. Mary Kristerie A. Baleva, and Julie Palaganas of the International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines.

References:
Cristina Palabay
Karapatan Secretary General
c/o +41774559698

Edre U. Olalia
NUPL Secretary General
c/o +41779773999

———————————————————————
PUBLIC INFORMATION DESK
publicinfo@karapatan.org
———————————————————————

Alliance for the Advancement of People’s Rights
2nd Flr. Erythrina Building
#1 Maaralin corner Matatag Streets
Central District, Diliman
Quezon City, PHILIPPINES 1101
Telefax: (+63 2) 4354146
Web: http://www.karapatan.org

KARAPATAN is an alliance of human rights organizations and programs, human rights desks and committees of people’s organizations, and individual advocates committed to the defense and promotion of people’s rights and civil liberties.  It monitors and documents cases of human rights violations, assists and defends victims and conducts education, training and campaign. 

http://www.karapatan.org/Mother+and+Child+Plight+Raised+on+UN+Rights+Body+Floor

6/13/2014, Geneva, Switzerland – International civil society organization Civicus World Alliance for Citizen Participation (Civicus) and Philippine human rights group Karapatan, through Karapatan secretary general Cristina Palabay, jointly responded yesterday to the report of the Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women during the interactive dialogues at the 26th Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council.

Speaking on behalf of Palabay, Atty. Mary Kristerie A. Baleva of the International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines delivered a succinct yet vivid oral statement on the floor, in the presence of various State Missions, international NGOs, and UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) officers and staff, disclosing the violations suffered by Filipino women detainees. She highlighted the case of political prisoner Andrea Rosal, who was seven months pregnant when she was arrested and detained in March 2014 on the basis of dubious charges.

The UN body holding sessions at Palais des Nations heard how Rosal did not receive proper, immediate and adequate maternal and pre-natal care due to the insensitivity and negligence of prison officials and guards, endured and continues to suffer inhumane treatment together with 31 other women detainees who shared her cramped and squalid cell. Still under detention, Rosal gave birth to a daughter, who died within two days.

In contrast to the inordinate delay of bringing the then expectant mother to the hospital from the infernal jailhouse, the prison officials, lawyer and doctor hastily whisked Rosal back despite the absence of any medical clearance from her attending doctors.

The statement publicly asked the UN body and its pertinent mechanisms to look into the case of Rosal for multiple violations of the 1955 UN Standard Minimum Rules on the Treatment of Prisoners and the 2010 UN Rules for the Treatment of Women Prisoners and Non-custodial Measures for Women Offenders (the Bangkok Rules).

The oral intervention endorsed by the Philippine group Ecumenical Voice for Peace and Human Rights (EcuVoice) also called for the immediate release of Rosal and other women detainees especially the sick and elderly.

Aside from Palabay and Baleva, the EcuVoice delegation also includes one of Rosal’s counsel Atty. Edre U. Olaia, Secretary General of the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL) and Bureau member of the International Association of Democratic Lawyers (IADL) which has UN Ecosoc consultative status.

References:

Cristina Palabay
Karapatan Secretary General
c/o +41774559698

Edre U. Olalia
NUPL Secretary General
c/o +41779773999

———————————————————————
PUBLIC INFORMATION DESK
publicinfo@karapatan.org
———————————————————————

Alliance for the Advancement of People’s Rights
2nd Floor Erythrina Building
#1 Maaralin corner Matatag Streets
Central District, Diliman
Quezon City, PHILIPPINES 1101
Telefax: (+63 2) 4354146
Web: http://www.karapatan.org

KARAPATAN is an alliance of human rights organizations and programs, human rights desks and committees of people’s organizations, and individual advocates committed to the defense and promotion of people’s rights and civil liberties.  It monitors and documents cases of human rights violations, assists and defends victims and conducts education, training and campaign. 

On the occasion of the Philippines’ 116th Independence Day

(Philippines) — “Prosecute and make accountable all those who are involved in the pork barrel scam!”

This is the battle cry of health professionals, community health workers and people’s health advocates joining today’s protest for the abolition of the pork barrel system and the increase of allocation of funds to health care and other basic social services.

“The people and the health sector have had enough of the massive thievery through the pork barrel system that Mr. Noynoy Aquino and his cronies have done to the Filipino people,” said Robert Mendoza, co-convener of the Rx: Abolish Pork Barrel System Movement.

Mendoza declared that Mr. Aquino, his cabinet members such as Butch Abad, Proseso Alcala, Joel Villanueva and the rest of his cronies’ personal interests are so compelling that it subsumes what is right and just.

“How can government officials and members stomach the painful realities that plague the nation like thousands of critically ill patients being turned away in public hospitals because of lack of money, hospitals beds and/or attending doctors and nurses; that there are only 17,000 Barangay Health Stations (BHS) out of 42,000 barangays in the country, not enough to provide primary health services in the cities and countrysides; that 72 public hospitals including the Philippine Orthopedic Center (POC) and the Philippine Children’s Medical Center (PCMC) are up for privatization that will make health care services profit-oriented and expensive for the poor; that hundreds of thousands of nurses remain unemployed despite the country’s massive lack of public health nurses; that 7 out of 10 Filipinos die without ever seeing a doctor; and, 70% of the Filipino population are not able to buy essential medicines simply because they don’t have the money for it,” Mendoza expressed.

Rx Abolish Pork Barrel System Movement tagged Mr. Aquino’s message today published in a major broad sheet “eliminating greed and corruption” from society as hypocritical and insulting. Mendoza claimed that “he people know more than what they (Aquino government) want us to believe. We have had enough!”

Rallying under the tagline, “Lahat ng sangkot dapat managot!” Rx Abolish Pork Barrel System Movement is a group of doctors, nurses, allied health professionals, health science students, community health workers, people’s organizations and people’s health advocates fighting for prosecution and accountability of all those involved in the systemic corruption within the government led by pork barrel king Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino.

Reference:
Robert Mendoza
Co-Convener
0921-2073631