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Duterte’s “shoot them dead” order denounced by international human rights group

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Duterte’s “shoot them dead” order denounced by international human rights group

The International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP) strongly condemns the shoot-to-kill order of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte on April 1. “We are raising the alarm in the international community on President Duterte’s directive to kill unruly violators of the coronavirus quarantine. This pronouncement is a dangerous order that allows authorities to target and kill anyone in a public space. It is also a complete violation of the fundamental rights of Filipinos especially in this time of global pandemic,” says ICHRP chairperson Peter Murphy.
 
President Duterte addressed the whole nation hours after the incidents of unrest and people massing up for food and relief in the country’s capital. In his televised speech, his tirade of violent threats included “I will not hesitate. My orders are sa pulis pati military…na pagka ginulo at nagkaroon ng okasyon na lumaban at ang buhay ninyo ay nalagay sa alanganin—shoot them dead,” (I will not hesitate. My orders to the police and military…if they caused any disorder, and they fight back and your lives are on the line—shoot them dead).

“President Duterte’s criminal negligence coupled with brutal measures to address the pandemic is taking its toll on Filipinos. Millions of informal workers have been displaced and right abuses have been rampant all over the country,”

The same day, 21 citizens were arrested for going out of their homes and demanding the relief promised by the national government.  Residents of an urban community in the biggest city in Metro Manila staged a rally asking for food and aid amid the government’s lockdown to contain the coronavirus, which in turn has left millions of Filipinos jobless and hungry.
 
“Our support goes to the poor Filipinos whose only crime is to be hungry and demand what is rightfully theirs. The right to food and basic social services should be ensured especially in times like these,” ICHRP asserts. A video circulating in the social media shows citizens demanding for food being violently dispersed by authorities. 
 
“Naintindihan ninyo? Patay. Eh kaysa mag-gulo kayo diyan, eh ‘di ilibing ko na kayo (Do you understand? Dead. Instead of causing trouble, I’ll send you to the grave),” Duterte added in his recorded address. Recently, the president was given special powers to distribute P200 billion (US$3.9 billion) to more than 18 million poor households. But after a week the aid remains unreleased.

“President Duterte’s criminal negligence coupled with brutal measures to address the pandemic is taking its toll on Filipinos. Millions of informal workers have been displaced and right abuses have been rampant all over the country,” says Murphy.
“The police and military who have been deployed to enforce social distancing are not trained for this task and have been the very perpetrators of human rights violations,” ICHRP underlines. The authorities have been detaining homeless people, putting curfew violators in cages and using torture methods to punish them, and even arresting citizens over “provoking” posts on social media.
 
Netizens showed their anger online over the president’s pronouncement to “shoot them dead” and called for his ouster. The #OustDuterte have been trending in the Philippines for two days now.
 
The World Health Organization states that “Measures that limit individual rights and civil liberties must be necessary, reasonable, proportional, equitable, non-discriminatory, and in full compliance with national and international laws.”#

COVID-19 CRISIS EXPOSES HUMAN RIGHTS CATASTROPHE IN THE PHILIPPINES

ICHRP Secretariat
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COVID-19 CRISIS EXPOSES HUMAN RIGHTS CATASTROPHE IN THE PHILIPPINES

Statement on the Militarist Approach of the Duterte Government to the COVID-19 Pandemic

The International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines calls on the global community to provide the Filipino people with urgent health support as part of the global response to the COVID-19 pandemic. We need to press the Duterte government to end its repression of civil society to enable the Filipino people to maximise their capacity to deal with the crisis. 

The virus has now triggered a global recession and working people everywhere face loss of income. This economic impact will be even more destructive in the Philippines, which exports labour all over the world and relies heavily on remittances to keep afloat. Filipino migrant workers all around the world will be dislocated and require assistance from the governments of host countries as well as from Manila. 

While no nation was prepared, the Philippines was particularly poorly equipped, its health system greatly depleted, and its political leaders notoriously callous. While Filipinos have been calling for free mass testing, the already limited supply of COVID-19 test kits and the high cost of tests for individuals have been aggravated by acts of government officials, politicians, and VIPs demanding priority[1]. In contrast, front liners, persons-under-investigation (PUIs), persons-under-monitoring (PUMs), and all other vulnerable sectors are denied testing. Worse, people are dying without even being tested[2]. 

The police and military who have been deployed to enforce social distancing are not trained for this task, and the weaponry now deployed only adds to the alarm among the people about what could happen to them. Abuses of human rights perpetrated by authorities have been growing with cases such as illegally detaining homeless people[3], putting curfew violators in cages[4] and using torture methods to punish them, and finally arresting citizens over “provoking” posts in social media[5]. 

Alarmingly, President Rodrigo Duterte was able to obtain additional “emergency powers” to supposedly address the pandemic. Through a new law, the “Bayanihan to Heal as One Act”, it is easier for Duterte to exercise absolute power despite his notoriety for disregard for human life and the rights of the poor. Now, he has appointed military men to lead and implement his National Action Plan to contain COVID-19[6]. These non-expert, non-doctors, non-scientists ex-generals have been systematically red-tagging and harassing citizens and ICHRP partner organisations who are advancing people’s rights.

The widespread use of surveillance, arrests on trumped-up charges, and extrajudicial execution by the government against leaders and members of people’s organisations must end. The international community has a vital role to play in pressing the Duterte government to end the attacks, end the killings and to respect basic rights to life and livelihood, and to democratic standards, if this COVID-19 pandemic is to be overcome. 

We reiterate that inside the country, community-based organisations and trade unions must be freed from repression to enable them to rapidly identify needs and to advocate to employers and government for emergency support. 

CURE COVID

Amid the government’s militarist approach and criminal negligence, Filipinos have taken the situation into their own hands. Relief operations, information drives, and community efforts to produce personal protective equipment for front liners have been ongoing. They call it the Citizens’ Urgent Response to End COVID-19 (CURE COVID) and it is an initiative of various communities and sectors in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on health and livelihoods. CURE COVID calls for basic social services for everyone, and nobody should be left unprotected from the disease and steps to arrest its spread. 

ICHRP commends these and similar initiatives of Filipinos and of mass organizations’ assertion of pro-people responses given that their health and lives are at stake

TO THE DUTERTE GOVERNMENT 

ICHRP recognises that this crisis will increasingly take a heavy toll on the Filipino people especially on the poor of the land. We support the efforts of empowered people’s movement in the Philippines’ to make the Duterte government accountable for:

  • every poor person’s life lost due to denial of health care services and protection from Covid-19;
  • every front-liner who died and are at risk due to the massive shortage of adequate facilities and equipment 
  • a militarist approach to the Covid-19 crisis that curtails the fundamental right of people to express criticism and dissent, the same approach that red-tags, arrests on trumped-up charges and thereby derails people from meaningfully contributing to the efforts to deal with the crisis. 

Again, we are calling for an end to the Philippine government’s repression of civil society to enable the Filipino people to maximise their capacity to deal with the crisis. 

#StopTheAttacks
#BasicSocialServicesforthePoor
#MassTestingNowPH

SOLIDARITY TO CURE COVID: A CALL FOR DONATIONS 

Sectors in the Philippines who live below the poverty line or who are jobless, landless, homeless and who are most vulnerable to Covid-19 urgently need support. We appeal to all for donations. 

You may send them through ICHRP’s PayPal account managed by the ICHRP secretariat based in Manila, link to which is: https://www.paypal.me/ichrpmanila 

In the immediate, your donations will be utilized to provide meals, relief packs and hygiene kits to Filipino beneficiaries. 

[1] Gov’t officials crowd out patients for COVID-19 testing

[2]PUI in Marawi dies while awaiting COVID-19 test result

[3]Cops arrest homeless Lola who shouted at tanods warning about curfew

Cops arrest homeless Lola who shouted at tanods warning about curfew 

[5]Teacher, son arrested without warrant in GenSan over Facebook post.  

 [6]Former military men to carry out action plan vs Covid-19

Global organisation of human rights advocates calls out PH’s anti-terrorism law

ICHRP Secretariat
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Global organisation of human rights advocates calls out PH’s anti-terrorism law

ICHRP supports Filipinos’ demand for the junking of terror bill

The International Coalition of Human Rights for the Philippines (ICHRP) condemns the recent approval of an anti-terrorism bill in the Philippine Senate. “We are appalled by how laws that further curtail the freedoms of the Filipinos are being railroaded under the Duterte government,” says ICHRP chairperson Peter Murphy.  

The legislation seeks to amend and bolster the country’s current Human Security Act, a repressive law that has been repeatedly used to justify arrests and file trumped-up charges against activists and government’s critics. If made into law, the new version allows violations of human rights such as the right to security and privacy, curtailment of the freedom of expression, freedom of association, and the right to due process. It legalizes warrantless arrest and detainment and even allows wiretapping and other surveillance in extended periods of time.

“This erodes the freedoms and liberties of Filipinos which are inalienable, guaranteed by its Constitution and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other internationally agreed-upon instruments to which the Philippines is a signatory,” ICHRP asserts.

Grassroot organisations and progressives have spoken up against the proposed bill. Bayan or New Patriotic Alliance of the Philippines notes that “this draconian law will surely be used to intimidate, silence and jail critics, political dissenters, members of the opposition, critical media, and anyone that gets the ire of the President.” While the biggest organisation of farmers for land reform KMP or Peasant Movement of the Philippines insists that “it will give wide authority to categorise otherwise legal acts, profession and business, as criminal.” According to the farmers, it will also institutionalize the branding and tagging of activists especially of the rural poor who are plagued by massive militarization.

Recently people rights alliance Karapatan joined other concerned groups to call for the junking of the law as counterpart bills are pending to complete its full passage.  “It infringes on and effectively curtails people’s democratic rights and lays the legal groundwork for a de facto martial rule,” says Karapatan in a press conference.

ICHRP supports the Filipino people in their fight to defend their civil and political rights and oppose the weaponization of the law against its citizens. “We have seen the political killings; heard the accounts of survivors and family members; and felt the growing discontent of Filipinos. This law will not in any way protect civilians from acts of terrorism, instead, it will only intensify the already deplorable human rights situation under the Duterte government,” says Mr. Murphy.

ICHRP calls on other freedom-loving peoples around the world to condemn the anti-terrorism bill. It pledges to garner more support for the Filipinos in resisting attacks and in defending their basic human rights.#

International human rights group decry Philippine government closure of Lumad sanctuary

ICHRP Secretariat
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International human rights group decry Philippine government closure of Lumad sanctuary

Duterte’s gross violation of indigenous people’s rights amounts to crimes against humanity

The International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP) condemned last Thursday the resolution to close the United Church of Christ of the Philippines (UCCP) sanctuary for Lumad indigenous people in Davao, Philippines.

This is not only an attack against the already displaced Lumad people and but an outright harassment of the church workers and human rights defenders opening their institutions for victims of internal displacement.

Peter Murphy, ICHRP chairperson

A resolution issued by the Regional Peace and Order Council (RPOC) endorsed the closure of the sanctuary in UCCP Haran Center last January 15. The council also threatened supporters of the Lumad people with arrests and trumped-up charges.

“There are more than 500 indigenous people seeking refuge in the UCCP Haran from different towns of Arakan, Talaingod, Kapalong, and parts of Compostela Valley province. We are here because our families, children are constantly under threat from militarization, increased presence of soldiers and aerial bombings,” says local group PASAKA (Confederation of Lumad Organization in Southern Mindanao) leader Jong Monzon.

The closure is the newest of the Philippine government’s series of attacks against the indigenous people of the island. Last October, the Department of Education, in the same region, ordered the permanent closure of 55 schools of the Salugpongan Ta Tanu Igkanogon Community Learning Center solely based on a report from army generals that students are being taught to rebel against the government. According to the human rights organisation Karapatan, there are 54 killings of indigenous people under Duterte as of June of 2019.

“What more do they want? They’ve murdered our people. They’ve already displaced us from our ancestral land. They’ve also shut down our schools,” said Datu Mentroso Malibato who has been staying at UCCP Haran center since 2015.

“[We] stand firm on our commitment to serve the indigenous people in Davao region. By doing our duty to act as shepherds of the poor and the deprived we manifest our unwavering commitment to defend the rights of those who are deprived of their civil liberties” says in the statement of UCCP Southeast Mindanao Jurisdictional Area which maintains the Lumad sanctuary.

“We are appealing to the international community—to human rights advocates and organisations, to other churches, to peace-loving individuals, to other indigenous groups and nations that we denounce this violation of the right to life of the Lumad people,” says Murphy.

The ICHRP will also be submitting its report to the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights which includes attacks on indigenous peoples and national minorities amounting to crimes against humanity. The submission is in response to the call of the UN Human Rights Council’s resolution to look into the human rights situation in the Philippines.#

Portland Human Rights Commission Votes in Favor of Resolution to Suspend Military Aid to Duterte Regime

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Portland Human Rights Commission Votes in Favor of Resolution to Suspend Military Aid to Duterte Regime

Portland, OR — In the evening of January 8th, the Portland Human Rights commission voted to submit a historic resolution to the Portland City Council to suspend U.S. military Aid to the Philippines. Since 2016, the U.S. has provided the Philippines with over 550 million dollars in military aid, despite Philippine President Duterte’s infamous and widespread human rights violations that have resulted in over 30,000 killings in the country.  

Dozens of Filipino human rights activists and community members joined the Portland Human Rights Commission meeting to support the resolution and testify about the effects of Duterte’s “war on drugs” and crackdown on human rights defenders.

“Youth should not have to grow up looking down the barrel of a gun” said Veronica Porter from GABRIELA Portland and the Malaya Movement, describing the situation of many youth growing up in the Philippines who are facing indiscriminate harassment from state forces. Porter recently returned from a delegation to Panay island in the Visayas, Philippines. 

Dr. Crystallee Crain, Portland Human Rights Commissioner and author of the resolution, stated, “I believe that it’s important to use our voices for change and to impress upon the leaders of the city, state, and country that we do not support these violations of human rights.”

Clearly moved by the constituent testimonies, the Commission voted 6-1-1 to push for the resolution at the level of Portland City Council. The Commission also voted to write a public statement of support. The current draft of the resolution will be submitted for a vote at Portland City Council on a later date yet to be determined. 

“While this is a big step in the right direction, I encourage leaders in Congress to divest unnecessary military aid that are being unjustly utilized. We should not allow our elected officials to squander tax dollars to dictatorships that aim to bolster their own power. We need massive review and reform of appropriations on the federal level. Our local work is meant to catalyze the movement in that direction,” continued Dr. Crain. 

Sam Miller, Regional Coordinator for the Portland Chapter of the International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines, added, “In a progressive city like Portland, this is an important move forward in living those progressive values on an international level. I applaud the members of the Human Rights Commission for recognizing the interconnectedness of their advocacy for human rights in Portland and the global struggle for freedom, democracy and justice.”

The Portland resolution is a part of growing diplomatic pressure against Duterte and a contribution to the U.S.-wide campaign to suspend military aid to the Philippines. In 2019, the United Nations Human Rights Council passed a resolution calling for an investigation of the human rights situation in the Philippines, and in September, the San Francisco Board of Supervisors passed a similar resolution, which calls for the suspension of military aid to the Philippines. On the same day of the Portland Human Rights Commission vote, the U.S. Senate passed Resolution S142, which condemns human rights violations in the Philippines and the detention of Senator Leila De Lima and harassment of journalist and Time Magazine Person of the year Maria Ressa. 

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