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Communique of the 3rd General Assembly of the International Coalition for Human Right in the Philippines

ICHRP Secretariat
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Communique of the 3rd General Assembly of the International Coalition for Human Right in the Philippines

Saturday, June 29, 2019

The 3rd General Assembly of the International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP) was held in Hongkong from 27 June – 29 June 2019 with the theme: “Stand United! In solidarity with the Filipino People for Justice, Freedom and Democracy!

More than one hundred and sixty participants from Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Cambodia, Canada, China, Germany, Hawaii, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Peru, Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan, United Kingdom, United States of America and West Papua gathered together to strengthen our unity with the Filipino People in their struggle for Justice, Freedom and Democracy.

The three-day event commenced with the presentation of a short video of ICHRP activities for the last three years and a song presentation led by Danny Fabella, National Council of Churches in the Philippines Theatro Ecumenical, Miss Agape Labuntog and cultural presentations from Filipino migrant workers under the direction of Dr. Rommel Linatoc.

Ma Wan Ki of the League of Social Democrats of Hong Kong welcomed the delegates, introduced the main speakers: Antonio Tujan, Jr., Luis Jalandoni and Peter Murphy, and encouraged the delegates to unite and fight against the US-Duterte Regime. He ended his remarks by thanking the Filipino people for his own life changing experience with them.

Antonio Tujan, Jr., the Director Emeritus of Ibon International, gave the keynote address for this General Assembly. He said that “In three years of the US-Duterte regime, the international community has moved from expectation for a popular albeit contrary presidency and the possibility of promised change especially with genuine change through peace talks towards disbelief over the rapid deterioration of political conflict and repression of the people reminiscent of the Marcos dictatorship.” In these conditions, ICHRP must expand and consolidate its membership.

The Opening Message from Luis Jalandoni of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) highlighted the history of violence under Duterte, the sabotaging of the peace process, abrogation of agreed upon ceasefire, and the termination of the peace talks. He projected the Filipino democratic movement’s call for “Oust Duterte”. Peter Murphy, Chairperson of the ICHRP Global Council, summarized the Philippines Human Right situation in which there is a new level of intensity, murders of HR defenders and murders in the “war on drugs”, and ICHRP’s work in sponsoring the International Peoples’ Tribunal in Brussels in September 2018. “The ICHRP has persevered and continue to grow and needs to stand united,” he added.

ICHRP Global Coordinator Angie Gonzales along with reporters from ICHRP Chapters outlined in detail the work undertaken by ICHRP over the last three years. These reports came from the US, Asia – Pacific, Canadian and Europe Chapters. Following the detention of Lumad leader Jerome Aba at San Francisco Airport in February 2018, and the massive US ICHRP protests, membership has rapidly increased in the USA. The huge Stop the Killings Bus Tour across the USA in the summer of 2018 followed, and a significant boost in Congressional lobbying on the Philippines took place. Canada reported on the successful anti-war conference, significant political lobbying and organizational expansion, and Asia-Pacific reported a series of protest waves over the intensifying murders of people’s advocates and in the “war on drugs”. In Europe much work took place for the Universal Periodic Review of the Philippines in the United Nations Human Right Council and in the very successful International Peoples Tribunal on Crimes against the Filipino People.

Plans for organizational expansion in the General Plan of action from the 2nd General Assembly were partially achieved, campaigns were implemented. The financial status of the coalition was assessed. The Global Secretariat was set-up in Manila just prior to the 3rd General Assembly.

The participants celebrated their achievement with an exuberant Solidarity Night with performances from different chapters, performers and the Hong Kong Migrant Workers Cultural Group.
Secretary-General of Karapatan Human Rights Alliance, Miss Cristina Palabay, shared horrendous stories of human rights violations of US-Duterte regime. These ranged from “nanlaban” murder stories, continuing Martial Law in Mindanao, illegal arrests and killings of activists, slandering of NGOs, to the full spectrum of Oplan Kapayapaan of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, and Oplan Kapanatagan of the Philippines National Police.

The 16 workshops on the second day raised awareness and developed unities on plan to further advance the solidarity and support for the struggling Filipino people. They passed important resolutions and approved major campaigns on their respective areas of concern. The results of the workshops were presented in the plenary and these were enthusiastically received and approved by acclamation.

The assembly also elected a new Global Council for the new term.

Amendments to the ICHRP Charter and By-Laws were also passed and a new logo approved.
The General Plan of Action for 2019-2022 was discussed and approved. Important components are the creation of educational materials, conducting research to provide campaign guidance to Chapters, consultation and unification between Regional and Country Chapters on collective international actions are among the plans of action that were approved in the assembly. A major priority is enabling and supporting UN, ILO and other international fact-finding missions to the Philippines, and developing a high-profile international day of action to Stop the Killings in the Philippines.

The General Assembly concluded with a Declaration of high level of emotional and practical commitment from participants to confront and overcome the scandalous abuse of human rights and international humanitarian law by the Duterte dictatorship with the overt support of the US, Australian, Canadian and Israeli government. ICHRP called on all possible social organization which uphold democracy and human rights to join it campaign and for more governments to join Iceland in publicly calling Duterte to account.

Greatly expand our solidarity with the Filipino people! Discredit and isolate the tyrannical US-Duterte dictatorship!

ICHRP Secretariat
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Greatly expand our solidarity with the Filipino people! Discredit and isolate the tyrannical US-Duterte dictatorship!

Hong Kong, June 27-29, 2019

Conference Declaration

Stand United
in solidarity with the Filipino People for
Justice Freedom and Democracy

The Duterte Presidency at the start of its third year is a tyrannical dictatorship provoking widespread anger, disgust and revulsion at the combination of tens of thousands of dead Filipinos arbitrarily murdered by police and hired guns in the phoney ‘war on drugs’, the hundreds of people’s leaders and defenders shot down by the military death squads, the ruthless suppression of the Lumad schools and the communities which built them, the vicious and hateful attacks on the dignity of women, the deadly vilification and smearing against legitimate people’s organizations, the neoliberal economic measures which impoverish the people even more, the massive displacement of people and destruction of Marawi City, and the Martial Law which is spreading to the whole country. And all this wrapped in abusive and misogynist language, blatant broken promises and praise of fascism and the dictator Marcos.

Duterte’s broken promises on releasing political prisoners and on proceeding with the peace talks with the National Democratic Front of the Philippines can only result in greater violence and repression.

This Duterte presidency is trying to crush the individual and collective human rights and people’s rights enshrined in the Constitution and international covenants to which the Philippines is a signatory.

This 3rd General Assembly of the International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines is full of admiration for and inspired by the huge numbers of Filipinos who defy this vile regime by continuing to assert their rights and freedoms and by protesting the great abuses taking place, by continuing to fight for genuine land reform, for national industrialisation, and for peace, for workers’ rights to a living wage and secure jobs, and for democratic rights across society.

The Duterte Regime is a scandal to the international community. Iceland has condemned this regime. But not enough governments have raised their voices to support the Filipino people and to call Duterte to account. This in itself is a scandal and demonstrates a threat to the individual and collective rights of people everywhere. A major reason for this failure in the international community is the US Trump administration’s use of Duterte in its competition with China, and the US support for the suppression of the national democratic people’s movement. The Trump administration and other governments, particularly Australia, Canada and Israel, directly arm and train the military and police of this murderous regime.

Following the May 2019 national elections, marked by blatant cheating, President Duterte is poised to change the Constitution to extend his rule and allow even greater imperialist plunder of the nation’s people and resources. This is a prospect for far sharper social conflict and nation-wide martial law, in which people’s rights will be threatened even more.

Faced with this prospect, the International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines is expanding its organisation and campaign capacity to provide strong and visible solidarity to the Filipino people in their struggle against this tyranny. ICHRP will greatly expand its public education campaigns to rouse international public opinion to demand action, and at the same time undertake an exhaustive campaign to the diplomatic community to hasten the international isolation of this dangerous dictatorship. ICHRP will focus on ever more pressure for the indictment of President Duterte in the International Criminal Court, building on the work of the International People’s Tribunal of September 2018.

In making this commitment to the Filipino people, ICHRP calls on all social organisations which uphold democratic values and human rights to respond to our calls and to join our Coalition so that the Filipino people can win the Justice, Freedom, Democracy and Peace for which they have been fighting for so long.

Let us STAND UNITED in this cause!

Stop the killings in the Philippines! Stop the attacks now!

ICHRP Secretariat
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Stop the killings in the Philippines! Stop the attacks now!

The International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP) strongly condemns the recent spate of killings of human rights defenders as we support the indignation rally today in front of the headquarters of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.

Killed in Sorsogon City last June 15 by motorcycle-riding assailants were Ryan Hubila, 22, and Nelly Bagasala, 69.  Both were staffers of the human rights group Karapatan and were previously threatened and harassed by elements of the 31st IB of the Philippine Army.

Two days later, on June 17 in Naga City, Neptali Morada, 45, former campaign committee head of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN)-Bicol, regional Bayan Muna head and a member of the Students Christian Movement of the Philippines (SCMP), was also gunned down.

The Bicol region is among the poorest regions in the country and included in President Duterte’s Memo Order No. 32 extending martial law from Mindanao. These regions, along with Negros and Samar, were hit hard by military attacks.

In Mindanao, KASAMA-Bukidnon member, farmer Leogildo ‘Nonoy’ Palma was gunned down outside his residence by three assailants on board a motorcycle on the 16th of June. One of the gunmen was recognized as a local militiaman. He was shot in front of his wife and child. Before the incident, Palma endured surveillance and harassment from soldiers of the 81st IBPA and Alamara paramilitary group.

Attacks on human rights defenders has already caught the attention of 11 United Nations rapporteurs and human rights experts who issued a rare joint statement on June 7 calling on the UN to conduct an independent investigation of a “staggering” number of summary killings and attacks on human rights workers committed with impunity.

We call on all human rights defenders and advocates to denounce the killings under President Duterte and support the Filipino people’s struggle for justice. #

 

Reference:

Peter Murphy, Chairperson

International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines

peter_murphy1_au@bigpond.com

Stop vilification of Human Rights Defenders in the Philippines

ICHRP Secretariat
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Stop vilification of Human Rights Defenders in the Philippines

May 25, 2019

H E Mr. Rodrigo Duterte

President of the Republic

Malacañang Palace,

JP Laurel St., San Miguel,

Manila, Philippines 1005

E-mail: op@president.gov.ph

Stop Vilification of Human Rights Defenders in the Philippines

Dear Excellency,

We call on your government to put a halt to the series of vilification and smear campaigns against Karapatan, Rural Missionaries of the Philippines, Ibon Foundation, alternative learning centers for indigenous children in Mindanao, and other people’s organizations, under its counterinsurgency program Oplan Kapayapaan (Operational Plan Peace).

These campaigns are instigated under your Executive Order No. 70 issued last December 4, 2018, which created a “National Task Force (NTF) to end local communist armed conflict.”

Karapatan is a non-stock, non-profit, non-governmental organization that has conducted human rights advocacy, monitoring and documentation in the Philippines since 1995. It is a member of the Civicus World Alliance for Citizen Participation, the SOS-Torture Network of the World Organization Against Torture, and, recently, of FORUM-ASIA. Its officers are involved in various feminist platforms such as the Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development.

IBON Foundation is a non-stock, non-profit development organization that has conducted research and education since 1978. The Rural Missionaries of the Philippines is a non-profit, non-governmental organization, inter-diocesan and inter-congregational in character of men and women religious, priests and lay, founded in 1969. It acts as the mission partners of the Association of the Major Religious Superiors in the Philippines (AMRSP). The Mindanao Interfaith Service Foundation is a non-stock, non-profit, religious institution serving the marginalized Lumad, Muslim and Christians in Mindanao, founded in 1983.

We strongly condemn the NTF’s reported conduct starting in February 2019 in Europe, where military and intelligence officials wrongfully labelled and vilified these Philippine human rights organizations as terrorists and communist fronts. These dangerous slanders are a clear reprisal to their human rights work, specifically on their advocacies and reports regarding the dismal human rights situation under your administration. Your government’s repeated denials instead of initiating investigations and addressing the rampant human rights abuses have reinforced the actions of human rights violators and enabled gross impunity in the country.

The attacks on the credibility of these Filipino human rights organisations in Europe aims to dissuade international actors from providing resources to human rights work, research and humanitarian support for these organizations and their communities. This situation imperils the many efforts of human rights defenders and various organizations to access and inform the international community on cases of rights violations and the over-all human rights situation in the Philippines and their initiatives to provide services for marginalized indigenous, peasant and urban poor communities.

More so, these forms of terrorist-labelling and red-tagging have resulted in the murder of human rights defenders, criminalization of their work and beliefs, illegal arrests and detention, torture and other violations of the people’s right to uphold and defend rights, to form organizations and to conduct human rights work.  In his 2008 Report to the UN Human Rights Council, UN Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Killings Prof. Philip Alston recommended that the Philippine government should stop such vilification as it has resulted to such grave violations.

But because Prof. Alston’s recommendations have been largely unheeded by succeeding administrations, these forms of attacks continue, despite the UN Declaration on the Rights of Human Rights Defenders and the European Union Guidelines on Human Rights Defenders.

These attacks are in the context of the extrajudicial killings spawned by your government’s drug war and counter-insurgency campaigns, the political persecution of vocal critics of your government such as Sen. Leila de Lima and former Supreme Court Justice Marilou Sereno, the attacks on press freedom as shown by the arrest and detention of Rappler’s Maria Ressa and cyber-attacks against online news sites, the martial law declaration in Mindanao, the state of emergency declared in three other regions enabling more military presence in communities, attempts to legislate to undermine human rights, militarization of the civilian bureaucracy and more recently, the issuance of Securities and Exchange Commission Memorandum 15 arbitrarily classifying and regulating the operations of non-profit organizations. These smear and vilification campaigns contribute to the over-all trend of shrinking civil society space and the worsening climate of impunity in the Philippines.

We wholeheartedly support the work of Karapatan, Rural Missionaries of the Philippines, Ibon Foundation, Mindanao Interfaith Service Foundation, and the alternative learning centres for indigenous children in Mindanao. We call on your government to stop such attacks and vilification campaigns using false, baseless, and malicious allegations against staunch advocates of human rights. Finally, we urge your government to instead allow initiatives of civil society, governments and intergovernmental bodies to independently investigate the human rights situation in the Philippines.

Accounts of the incidents:

On December 4, 2019, you signed Executive Order No. 70, creating a national task force (NTF) to end local communist armed conflict and institutionalizing the so-called whole of nation approach. In February 2019, the NTF and other government officials went on a trip in Europe.

On February 14, 2019, this Philippine government delegation went to Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, to meet with the United Nations Working Group on Enforced and Involuntary Disappearance. In the sidelines of this meeting, Brig. Gen. Antonio Parlade, Jr., assistant Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, said: “Yung pinanggalingan ng data eh may ibang interes, may ibang agenda. It’s really to destroy the government. And we believe, talagang ganun kasi, ah kasi nakita na natin yang trend na yan, information coming from Ibon, from Karapatan – these are all organizations of the Communist Party of the Philippines.” (The sources of data have other interests and agenda, that is to really destroy government. We believe that it is so because we already saw the trend where information is coming from, from Ibon, from Karapatan, these are all organizations of the Communist Party of the Philippines.)

On February 18, 2019, the delegation reportedly went to Brussels, Belgium, to meet with Belgian government officials, members of the European Union Parliament and Gilles de Kerchove, EU Counter-Terrorism Coordinator of the European Council. In this meeting, government officials referred to Ibon, Karapatan and the Rural Missionaries of the Philippines as front organizations of the CPP. They called on the EU and other member states to stop releasing funds to these groups.

In an article in the Philippine News Agency (PNA), Parlade was quoted to have said: “Many of this money was channelled by these NGOs to other organizations whose only objective is to portray President (Rodrigo) Duterte as a tyrant and his administration as oppressive.” He said, “What we wanted the EU and UN (United Nations) to also know is that the CPP and its front organizations, like Karapatan, are consistent and persistent in providing UN and European governments with all these false data.”

The NTF also met with the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In this meeting, Parlade again claimed that some of the funds provided by the Belgian government finances CPP front organizations including Karapatan, Ibon Foundation, Mindanao Interfaith Service Foundation, and RMP. Gunnar Weigand, Managing Director of European External Action Service and European Commission South East Division of Development and Cooperation, said that they will monitor donors to the country and help with the audit of these funds. In a news report, Alex Paul Monteagudo, Director General of the National Intelligence Coordinating Agency, further alleged that “these front organizations have mastered the art of sourcing and diverting funds to buy weapons and train children to become warriors in their alleged schools.”

Under Proclamation No. 374, signed in December 2017, under Section 3 and 15 of the Republic Act 10168 or the Terrorism Financing Prevention and Suppression Act of 2012, you designated the CPP-NPA and all other designated persons/organizations as terrorist organizations. This proclamation allows authorities to freeze and forfeit property and funds of members of front organizations of CPP-NPA and those that may be funding or providing financial assistance to these organizations. The circumstance may lead to warrantless arrests of said persons.

On February 21, 2019, the Philippine government through National Security Council Deputy Director General Vicente Agdamag handed over to Ambassador Evan P. Garcia, Philippine Permanent Representative to the United Nations (UN) and other International Organizations in Geneva, documents of alleged complaints of several indigenous people’s groups, represented by Mindanao Indigenous Peoples Council for Peace and Development, against the Communist Party of the Philippines-New Peoples’ Army-National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF).

They again cited IBON Foundation, Rural Missionaries of the Philippines, Mindanao Interfaith Service Foundation, and KARAPATAN as alleged front organizations of the CPP-NPA-NDF in their complaints. The Philippine government delegation said these organizations are the source of accounts of human rights violations in the Philippines, which they called false narratives.

The Philippine delegation also maligned United Nations Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples Victoria Tauli-Corpuz in their so-called letter-complaint to the Office of the UN High Commissioner on Human Rights. The delegation’s letter was quoted in a news report: “It must be noted that the current UN Rapporteur Victoria Tauli-Corpuz seems to have never lifted a finger to intervene in these communist terrorist groups’ (CTGs) violations and has rather trained her attention to government forces who have been trying to defend the human rights of the IPs.”

In an opinion post, Tauli-Corpuz said she has not received any communications regarding the NPA. “We also address non-state actors, such as corporations and non-state armed groups when we receive communications about them and if we have addresses,” she added. The UN expert also said that “the main actors we monitor are States. The duty-bearers of human rights are States. Thus, the main mandate of Special Rapporteurs is to monitor the duty bearers. So far, I received no communications regarding the NPA.”

Tauli-Corpuz was included among 600 in the proscription filed by Department of Justice in February 2018 at a Manila Regional Trial Court declaring CPP-NPA as a terrorist organization. On January 2019, the Manila RTC Branch 19 trimmed down the list to just eight, excluding that of Tauli-Corpuz.

On February 22, 2019, the Philippine delegation conducted a briefing at the Concordia Room at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland. According to government reports, representatives of at least 20 countries including Italy, Pakistan, Egypt, Thailand, Brazil, France, US, Croatia, Canada, Uruguay, Mexico, Switzerland, Nigeria were briefed by Senior Supt. Omega Jireh Fidel of the Philippine National Police (PNP) Directorate for Investigation and Detective Management; Brig. Gen. Antonio Parlade, Jr, assistant Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations of the Armed Forces of the Philippines; and Undersecretary Joel M. Sy Egco, Executive Director of the Presidential Task Force on Media Security. The panelists and Garcia pressed that correct information on human rights in the Philippines could only come from the government itself and tried to persuade senior officials of UN representatives that the Philippines has legal mechanisms to address human rights violations.

At the same time as the UN trip, Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) officials went on a tour to Brussels and Geneva in a “Press Freedom Caravan” to defend President Duterte’s stand on issues such as the cases of enforced disappearances and counterinsurgency programs.

However, in the Philippine government’s October 2018 risk assessment report on non-profit organizations (NPOs), the Anti-Money Laundering Council (AMLC), Securities and Exchange Commission and the Department of Social Welfare and Development stated that there is no evidence proving that non-profit organizations (NPOs) are being used for “terrorist funding.” The report noted that previous accusations are based on hearsay. The government’s own agencies stated that NPOs are not the preferred “mode of raising funds” for so-called threat groups. The same report says that the abuse of NPOs were actually from politicians, as in the case of NPOs being used “as conduit for money laundering in the PDAF scam”.

In a statement released on February 19, 2019, Karapatan said: “Our attention has been called regarding the conduct of military and intelligence officers who make rounds in diplomatic missions to red-tag specific organizations and dissuade them from providing resources that go into the campaigns and initiatives of said groups. This situation puts into peril the many efforts of human rights defenders and various organizations to provide services for the many that are marginalized and neglected by past and present governments. Years of hard work and concrete actions to respond to these specific needs are being maligned and in danger of being overturned. Their operation is gradual and surreptitious, but altogether perilous to the movement, capacity, and spaces being maximized by civil society.

“Victims are instead branded as terrorists and mechanism to safeguard people’s rights pushed forward mainly by the efforts of civil society are being co-opted and twisted in this government’s desperate PR stunt,” they further argued.

In a statement released on February 24, 2019, Karapatan said that through “a national task force composed of militarists and mercenary hacks, it is promoting a most unbelievable lie – that government is correct and everyone else is wrong. What is however apparent is its elaborate effort to hide the injustices apparent in the country.”

Karapatan further said: “Together with other human rights and civil society organizations, and even international human rights experts and UN officials, we have been repeatedly maligned in the government’s vicious terrorist-labelling campaign and have faced reprisals due to our work exposing State-perpetrated human rights violations and demanding for justice and accountability. We highly urge government to stop whining and acting like the government is the aggrieved party and start addressing these issues. We remind the Duterte government that the State is the primary duty-bearer in the promotion, protection and advancement of human rights. We are certain you might have already forgotten. Efforts to falsely accuse groups and journalists raising these issues will not erase the atrocious crimes already committed and are continuously being committed by State security forces. However, these forms of terrorist-labelling and red-tagging have also resulted in the killings of human rights defenders, criminalization of their work and beliefs and illegal detention, torture and other violations of the people’s right to uphold and defend rights, to form organizations and to conduct human rights work.”

In our April 1, 2019 statement, Karapatan expressed openness to the impartial and participative audit of the European Union, including the Belgian government. To wit: “We, as rights-holders and human rights defenders, are receptive to such queries, in the spirit of meaningful dialogue, transparency and accountability. We are confident with what we are, and we are ready to face any question on our work, that is in accordance to international and local human rights standards.

“Our human rights workers, all doing voluntary work, toil through day and night, even at great risk to their lives and security, to assist victims of rights violations and their families, including victims of extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, arrests, torture, forced evacuation, among others. We are not terrorists. We do not support terrorist activities through our projects and work — all of which are well-documented, accounted for and independently audited.” 

Also in a statement, the Rural Missionaries of the Philippines said: “We condemn in the highest terms this slander of our organization. We reiterate that our commitment to serve the rural poor drives us to provide programs for them including literacy and numeracy for Lumad children, livelihood programs, relief and rehabilitation, training and education for rural communities. This is definitely alarming as it can be used as justification to go after rural missionaries, priests, sisters and lay workers, and so we urge our fellow Christians to condemn these preposterous accusations and echo the call to end the attack against rural poor and peace advocates.”

Karapatan and RMP have filed complaints before the Commission on Human Rights regarding these attacks and vilification by State forces. Unfortunately, the AFP and Parlade have continued their smear campaign against Karapatan and many other human rights defenders.

We urge you and your government

The International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines therefore urges you and your government to stop the vilification and smear campaigns, through red-tagging and terrorist-labelling, against human rights defenders, their organizations and communities.

We urge you and your government to recall Executive Order No. 70 and its so-called whole of nation approach and stop all activities emanating from this order, including the smear campaigns against human rights activists.

We urge you to withdraw the counterinsurgency program Oplan Kapayapaan, which victimizes innocent and unarmed civilians, and criminalizes the work of human rights defenders.

We urge instead that your government prioritize the enactment and full implementation of a Human Rights Defenders Protection Bill that will give legal recognition and safeguard rights defenders in the conduct of their work, in accordance with the UN Declaration on the Rights of Human Rights Defenders.

Finally, we urge you and your government to adhere to and respect the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the International Convention on Civil and Political Rights, and all major Human Rights instruments that it is a party and signatory.

Yours sincerely,

 

Peter Murphy

Chairperson, Global Council,

International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines

 

Cc:          Cc Mr Antonio Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations; UN Special Rapporteur on EJK; DFAT Desk; Senator Marise Payne, Minister for Foreign Affairs; Senator Penny Wong; Senator Richard Di Natale, Andrew Wilkie MHR; Julia Dean; Ret Gen Carlito G Galvez Jr, Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process; Ret Maj Gen Delfin Lorenzana, Secretary, Dept of Defence; Mr Menardo Guevarra, Secretary, Department of Justice; Mr. Jose Luis Martin Gascon, Chairperson, Commission on Human Rights.

ICHRP Canada launches in Ottawa

ICHRP Secretariat
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ICHRP Canada launches in Ottawa

OTTAWA — Over 100 community leaders from cities across Canada came together at the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) headquarters in Ottawa on May 11 and 12 to launch a cross-country campaign against a backdrop of “troubled times for human rights in the Philippines” and form the Canadian chapter of the International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP-Canada).

The group has vowed to “strengthen our solidarity with counterparts on the ground in the Philippines” and to “exert more effective pressure on both the Canadian and Philippine governments to respect human rights in the Philippines.”

ICHRP-Canada has elected a 6-person national coordinating committee composed of human rights and peace advocates, church leaders, academics and community leaders, namely Andy Tran, Regional Coordinator for Ontario; Dani Gay, Regional Coordinator for Quebec; Whitney Haynes, Member at Large; Rev. Ndhlovu Japhet, Member at Large; Doug Booker, Secretary-General/Treasurer; and Rev. Patricia Lisson, Chairperson.

The formation of ICHRP-Canada was the result of several years of campaigning by Canada-based solidarity groups calling for freedom for political prisoners, calling to stop the killings and enforced disappearances, and raising concerns on the implications of Canadian foreign aid and investment in the Philippines.

Prior to the launch a conference was held with prominent speakers. Dr. Angie Gonzales, Global Coordinator of ICRHP, shared how the international coalition began with the “Stop the Killings” platform.

Meanwhile, people’s lawyer Edre Olalia provided a general overview of the current human rights situation in the Philippines. He discussed the so-called conspiracy “matrix” from alleged coup plotters against the government resorting to state red-tagging and what’s left of the rights of people under Duterte.

Rev. Marma Urbano, who participated in forming the US Chapter of the ICHRP, shared her personal story depicting the violence faced by community leaders and human rights defenders. Filipina fair trade activist Ruth Fe Salditos, whose own life is at risk, recounted the fight against unscrupulous landlords in Panay island, central Philippines. Both also conveyed a message of hope through the peace process in the midst of the civil war between the Government of the Philippines and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP).

Coni Ledesma spoke about the relation of peace talks to the call to defend human rights further explaining that only by addressing the roots of the armed conflict would real change happen.

Renowned international muralist Bert Monterona also provided the backdrop for the occasion.

Canada-based members are expected to participate at the ICHRP 3rd General Assembly on June 27-29, 2019 at the HKFYG Jockey Club Sai Kung Outdoor Training Camp, New Territories, Hong Kong.

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Quotes

“The war on drugs is a distraction from the social and economic problems plaguing the country. It’s really a war on the poor. It’s taking drug addiction as a disease, as the fundamental problem and not as a symptom of an even bigger problem.”

– Dani Gay, Quebec regional representative for ICHRP Canada from the Jeunes Socialistes pour le Pouvoir Populaire (JSPP)

“In the Philippines, if you’re not a Duterte supporter, you’re either a protector of drugs or a communist. If you criticize, if you resist, if you stand in their way, they will get you out of the way…We have to stand together amidst all the misery, amidst all the oppression, amidst all the tyranny. We have the truth! We have the people!”

– Edre Olalia, president of National Union of People’s Lawyers

“For the National Democratic Front of the Philippines, our vision is clear. We want and will continue to struggle for just and lasting peace. It is only when the deepest aspirations of the people are met: land for the landless, jobs, food, education and healthcare. That is, when national and social liberation is achieved would there be peace.“

– Coni Ledesma, member of the negotiating panel with the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP)

Quick facts

ICHRP-Canada has filed an access to information request to find out how much military aid the Canadian government gives to the Philippine government. It pushed Canadian officials in 2018 to reconsider the sales of helicopters, citing deal will abet humans rights violations by Duterte government

The International People’s Tribunal (IPT) 2018 found President Rodrigo Duterte guilty for his crimes against the Filipino people, citing witness testimonies on alleged incidents.

In a November 2018 report, the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade of the Canadian House of Commons recommended that Canada needs to reimagine its relationship with the Philippines in the context of growing authoritarianism.

In March 2019, the Philippines became the second country in the world to withdraw from the International Criminal Court

Lancement de ICHRP- Canada Coalition internationale pour les droits humains aux Philippines
Jeudi, 23 mai 2019

OTTAWA – Plus d’une centaine de dirigeants communautaires de toutes les régions du Canada se sont réunis aux locaux de l’Alliance de la Fonction publique du Canada (AFPC) à Ottawa les 11 et 12 mai pour lancer une campagne pancanadienne dans cette

” période difficile pour les droits de la personne aux Philippines ” et former la section canadienne de la Coalition internationale pour les droits humains aux Philippines (ICHRP-Canada).

Le groupe s’est engagé à ” renforcer notre solidarité avec nos homologues sur le terrain aux Philippines ” et à ” exercer une pression plus efficace sur les gouvernements canadien et philippin pour qu’ils respectent les droits humains aux Philippines “.

ICHRP-Canada a élu un comité national de coordination composé de six personnes, défenseurs des droits humains, leaders religieux, universitaires et communautaires. Ce sont Andy Tran, coordonnateur régional pour l’Ontario, Dani Gay, coordonnateur régional pour le Québec, Whitney Haynes, membre sans portefeuille, Ndhlovu Japhet, membre sans portefeuille, Doug Booker, secrétaire-trésorier et Patricia Lisson, présidente.

La création de l’ICHRP-Canada est le résultat de plusieurs années de campagne menée par des groupes de solidarité au Canada qui réclament la libération des prisonniers politiques, la fin aux meurtres et aux disparitions forcées, et qui soulèvent des préoccupations concernant l’aide et des investissements étrangers du Canada aux Philippines.

Avant le lancement, une conférence a été organisée avec des conférencier-ières éminent-es. Angie Gonzales, Coordinatrice mondiale de l’ICRHP, a expliqué comment la coalition internationale a commencé avec la plate-forme “Stop the Killings” (Arrêtez les meurtres).

Entre-temps, l’avocat du peuple Edre Olalia a donné un aperçu général de la situation actuelle des droits humains aux Philippines. Il a discuté de la soi-disante “matrice” de conspiration d’un présumé coup d’Etat contre le gouvernement, et que le gouvernement utilise comme prétexte pour étiqueter comme « rouge » tous les opposants qui défendent ce qui reste des droits du peuple sous le président Duterte

La Révérende Marma Urbano, qui a participé à la création de la section américaine de l’ICHRP, a raconté son histoire personnelle décrivant la violence à laquelle sont confrontés les dirigeants communautaires et les défenseur-es des droits humains. La militante philippine du commerce équitable Ruth Fe Salditos, dont la vie est en danger, a raconté la lutte contre des propriétaires sans scrupules sur l’île de Panay. Toutes deux ont également transmis un message d’espoir en parlant du processus de paix en pleine guerre civile entre le gouvernement des Philippines et le Front démocratique national des Philippines (NDFP).

Coni Ledesma a parlé de la relation entre les pourparlers de paix et l’appel à défendre les droits humains en expliquant que ce n’est qu’en s’attaquant aux racines du conflit armé que le changement réel se produira.Le muraliste de renommée internationale Bert Monterona a créé le décor de fond pour cette occasion.

Les membres du Canada se préparent à participer à la 3e assemblée générale de l’ICHRP du 27 au 29 juin 2019 au camp d’entraînement extérieur du HKFYG Jockey Club Sai Kung, New Territories, Hong Kong.

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Citations

“La guerre contre la drogue est une distraction par rapport aux problèmes sociaux et économiques qui affligent le pays. En réalité, c’est une guerre contre les pauvres. On prend la toxicomanie comme la maladie, comme le problème fondamental et non comme un symptôme d’un problème encore plus grave.”

– Dani Gay, représentant régional du Québec pour ICHRP Canada des Jeunes Socialistes pour le Pouvoir Populaire (JSPP)

“Aux Philippines, si vous n’êtes pas un partisan de Duterte, vous êtes soit un protecteur du narcotrafic, soit un communiste. Si vous critiquez, si vous résistez, si vous vous mettez en travers de leur chemin, ils vous mettront à l’écart… Nous devons rester unis devant la misère, l’oppression, la tyrannie. Nous avons la vérité ! Nous avons le peuple !”

– Edre Olalia, président de l’Union nationale des avocats du peuple

“Pour le Front démocratique national des Philippines, notre vision est claire. Nous voulons et continuerons de lutter pour une paix juste et durable. Ce n’est que lorsque les aspirations les plus profondes de la population sont satisfaites : terre pour les sans-terre, emplois, nourriture, éducation et soins de santé. C’est-à-dire, une fois la libération nationale et sociale réalisée, qu’i y aurait la paix”

– Coni Ledesma, membre du groupe de négociation du Front démocratique national des Philippines (NDFP)

Quelques faits

ICHRP-Canada a déposé une demande d’accès à l’information pour connaître le montant de l’aide militaire que le gouvernement canadien accorde au gouvernement philippin. En 2018, il a poussé les autorités canadiennes à reconsidérer les ventes d’hélicoptères en invoquant le fait que l’accord favorisera les violations des droits de la personne par le gouvernement Duterte.

Le Tribunal international du peuple (TPI) 2018 a déclaré le Président Rodrigo Duterte coupable de ses crimes contre le peuple philippin, citant des témoignages des actes allégués.

Dans un rapport publié en novembre 2018, le Comité permanent des affaires étrangères et du commerce international de la Chambre des communes du Canada a recommandé que le Canada réévalue ses relations avec les Philippines dans le cadre d’un autoritarisme croissant.

En mars 2019, les Philippines est devenue le deuxième État à se retirer du Tribunal Pénal International.

 

Reposted from: https://www.facebook.com/notes/ichrp-canada-international-coalition-for-human-rights-in-the-philippines/ichrp-canada-launches-in-ottawa-see-french-below/1346635605493317/

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