Statement

December 9, 2022

The International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP) is one with the international community in condemning the listing of Louie Jalandoni, 87 years old, as “terrorist” by the Philippines’ Anti-Terrorism Council (ATC).

ICHRP supports the Committee DEFEND, a group defending the rights of Louie Jalandoni, in submitting the petition addressed to the Philippine President through the Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin C. Remulla, against the designation of Louie Jalandoni as terrorist. This submission by the Filipino people was supported by around 1,500 initial on-line signatories from the international community.

Last May 25, the Anti-Terrorism Council through its Resolution No. 31 unjustly designated Louie Jalandoni along with five other people, as terrorists without due process. This designation was based on trumped-up charges from their so-called confidential “verified information”. Jalandoni is the former chairperson of the Negotiating Panel of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP), who has resided in the Netherlands since 1976.

“That the Anti-Terrorism Council can designate individuals or groups as terrorists without prior notice and transparency to its selection process clearly shows the Philippine government’s disregard for the right to due process of the Filipino people. It is no different from red-tagging, which arbitrarily labels as enemies of the state those who advocate for the legitimate demands of the impoverished Filipino people”, said ICHRP Chairperson Peter Murphy. “There is no judicial role in this designation, it is an arbitrary executive decision.”

Amidst the country’s worsening human rights crisis, ICHRP reiterates its calls on the Philippine Government to heed the recommendations of other member states of the United Nations in the recently concluded 41st Session of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) last November to respect the rights of the Filipino people. Murphy also called for the international community to continue to monitor the developments of human rights under the administration of President Bongbong Marcos Jr, and to press for the Philippines to return to the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court.

Press Release
November 27, 2022

“The International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP) welcomes the recent announcement by Philippines Justice Secretary Jesus Remulla that UN Special Rapporteur Morris Tidball-Binz, a forensic doctor, will visit the Philippines next year,” said ICHRP Chairperson Peter Murphy this Saturday. “As Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary, and arbitrary executions, Tidball-Binz’s visit would be an important next step in the process of seeking justice for the thousands of victims of extrajudicial killings under the previous Duterte government, as well as the current Marcos government.”

As reported by Investigate PH, in which Philippine forensic expert Dr. Rachel Fortun served as one of the expert witnesses, tens of thousands of extrajudicial and arbitrary killings took place under President Duterte. A majority of these took place in the government’s “war on drugs”, which mobilized police officers and vigilante groups to kill as many as 30,000 suspected drug dealers or drug users. The Philippine National Police admit to over 6,600 such killings. But despite the abundant evidence that these killings took place, only 25 police officers have been charged so far in relation to the war on drugs, according to Secretary Remulla’s report to member states of the Human Rights Council on November 14. 

Other targets of EJKs under Duterte’s war on dissent were human rights defenders, journalists, lawyers, Indigenous leaders, peasants, and labor leaders. Even under the new Marcos administration, these killings continue: recently radio journalist Percy Lapid was killed in a plot allegedly orchestrated by a senior government official. 

“Given this recent announcement, we reiterate our call to the Marcos administration for open, transparent, and thorough investigation of these crimes, and justice for all victims and their families,” continued Murphy. “This means investigation and prosecution of all perpetrators of such crimes, and an end to the state of impunity which has allowed so many members of the police force to avoid prosecution so far. ICHRP also echoes the call of at least ten Human Rights Council member states to the Philippine government to re-join the International Criminal Court and cooperate with the ICC’s ongoing investigation into the crime against humanity of murder during the so-called war on drugs.”

For further comment: Peter Murphy +61 418 312 301, chairperson@ichrp.net

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Press Release
November 14, 2022

ICHRP supports the recommendations of the UN Human Rights Committee through the Universal Periodic Review (UPR), but is concerned by a general lack of support for action among UN member states.  

The United Nations Human Rights Committee is a treaty body composed of 18 experts, established through the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). The Committee meets for three four-week sessions per year to consider the periodic reports submitted by the 173 state parties to the ICCPR on their compliance with the treaty.

The 2022 report of the Human Rights Committee highlights the ongoing failure of the Philippine government in ensuring that human rights are upheld. The recommendations take note of the issues and instruments that have contributed to a system of impunity and state-orchestrated terror, such as: the red-tagging of human rights defenders and attacks on journalists and lawyers; continued extra-judicial killings under the guise of the war on drugs; and the repressive provisions of the Anti-Terror Law which target the fundamental foundations of democracy, freedom of assembly, freedom of expression and the right to dissent.  

The Committee’s recommendations are timely, given the continuing human rights violations under the new Marcos administration. The current administration must not ignore nor downplay these recommendations and instead find concrete ways of upholding its treaty obligations under the ICCPR. 

There was a great deal of interest expressed among member states in the Philippines UPR here in Geneva. A total of 107 states intervened and about 40% took a critical stand and supported  the Committee’s recommendations. There is a general reticence among the majority of member states to be critical towards the Philippines’ abysmal human rights record. Despite the UN’s ongoing documentation of the Philippine’s poor civil and political rights record which dramatically worsened under the Duterte administration, only a minority of states are willing to openly express concerns and even fewer were willing to make strong recommendations for action (specifically some European and Latin American States). We specifically laud the intervention of Sierra Leone who called for the abolition of the NTF-ELCAC (National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict) which has functioned as one of the main instruments of state terror against dissidents.

Several member states including Lichtenstein, Sierra Leone, Sweden, Romania, and the USA, called for an end to the practice of red-tagging, a process by which individuals and organizations are labelled as fronts for the Communist Party of the Philippines. The Philippine representative Jesus Crispin Remulla, Secretary of the Department of Justice, for his part angrily responded to the US criticism claiming, “there is no government policy of red-tagging, it is a term invented by the left”.  This was a complete turnabout from Remulla’s contention two weeks earlier that red tagging was a government right and a vibrant part of the democratic process.  This is an example of the Philippine government’s state of denial to the international community regarding its continuing war on dissent. 

ICHRP Chairperson Peter Murphy expressed “profound appreciation to those member states who spoke out pressing for greater accountability from the Philippine government,” but he urged the international community to “press member states for concrete action on human rights from the Marcos administration”.  He further called for an immediate need for an end to the supply weapons to the Marcos government, noting that “the United States has recently extended $100 million in credit for weapons purchases, and supplied $1.14 billion [2015-21] in weapons to the Philippine government during the worst period of rights violations”. 

The recommendations stem from a recognition of the dire human rights situation in the Philippines. The experts do not appear swayed by the claim that the justice system in the country is working for the victims of human rights violations. ICHRP Global Council Member, Rev. Patricia Lisson, indicated that “all evidence to date points to a failure of domestic measures with less than 15 prosecutions among the thousands of cases of rights violations. Given such weak evidence to the contrary, the experts and a number of member states are clearly not convinced that the human rights situation has greatly improved”.

ICHRP calls on UN member states to hold the Philippines accountable to act on the findings of the UPR, to take concrete action to support an end to impunity, and to support the struggle of the victims and their family for justice and to finally conduct an independent international investigation as a follow-up to the 2020 Bachelet report. In the interim, the most visible and effective measure will be a cessation of all arms trade with the Philippines.

#InvestigatePH
#StopMilitaryAidPH
#UPRWatchPH

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Press Release
November 14, 2022

“Members of the International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP) are physically present in Geneva, Switzerland to witness the fourth Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of the Philippines,” said ICHRP Chairperson Peter Murphy this Monday morning. “We remain vigilant in advance of the proceedings, and reiterate our calls to all Human Rights Council (UNHRC) member states to respond seriously to human rights violations that have occurred under former president Duterte, and continue under current president Marcos.”

In support of the UPR session, ICHRP released on November 10 the Final Compendium Report of Investigate PH, an international independent investigation spearheaded by ICHRP, which was carried out in response to the dismal resolution of the UN Human Rights Council on “capacity building and technical cooperation” and to create space for the clamor of the victims seeking justice. “Looking back to the report of Investigate PH, we know there is definitive evidence of countless human rights violations under the Duterte administration, and a state of impunity for many of the perpetrators,” said Murphy. “Even the International Criminal Court has recognized some of these rights violations as crimes against humanity. In our opinion, member states of the UNHRC have a long way to go if justice is to be served for these crimes against the Filipino people.”

“Much of the evidence documented by Investigate PH showed systematic violation of the basic economic, social, and cultural rights of the people,” continued Murphy. “Workers and peasants face poverty, landlessness, and job insecurity. Hundreds of workers are driven out of the country every day in search of work. Yet the government of Duterte did little to create a support system for these people.

“In fact, the situation of the people was made worse by constant attacks on their civil and political rights, often perpetrated by state forces; and in creating the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) which red-tags individual human rights defenders and organizations. Tens of thousands of supposed drug dealers or users, many of whom lived in poverty, were killed in Duterte’s war on drugs. People who advocated for their rights faced red-tagging, arrests, and even extra-judicial killings. Some attacks on the people by the military violated international humanitarian law, as in the case of the use of white phosphorus bombs in Abra, and the shelling of civilian areas in Marawi and Moro areas in Mindanao.

“Given the evidence, it is clear that all UNHRC member states contributing to today’s UPR session have a responsibility to make recommendations to the Philippines which would begin to address the human rights crisis,” said Murphy. “This includes investigation and prosecution of all those responsible for the many rights violations in the past five years.

“Even outside of the UPR recommendations, ICHRP calls on member states to respond seriously to this situation. Under the new Marcos administration, the rights violations and state of impunity established under Duterte continue. In particular, the NTF-ELCAC continues to receive enormous funding under the new administration, which it uses to surveille, intimidate, and attack progressives all across the country. Member states must take serious action and be critical of the brazen human rights violation record of the Duterte government, stop funding the counter-insurgency program of the current Marcos-Duterte administration, and push for a UNHRC-led investigation.”

#InvestigatePH
#StopMilitaryAidPH
#UPRWatchPH

Further comment: Peter Murphy
WhatsApp +61 418 312 301

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