Press Release

16 November 2017

In the third interfaith humanitarian mission to Marawi led by Kalinaw Mindanao, people’s organizations from Canada, the US, Australia and other Asian countries under the International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines, responded to the call to bring in relief, medical and to document reports of human rights violations and situation of Meranaw evacuees who have returned to Marawi City.

Nearly five months after President Rodrigo Duterte declared Martial Law in Mindanao and an all-out war in Marawi that displaced almost 400,000 residents and brought heavy damages to lives and properties due to military airstrikes and encounter with the ISIS-inspired groups, he finally declared the “liberation” of Marawi which signalled the return of evacuees and the start of the city’s rehabilitation.

However, not nearly half of evacuees have returned to their homes due to government’s restriction such as not allowing civilians to go back at areas declared as ground zero, requiring an ID system based on voter’s registration, requiring land titles and imposing the Presidential Decree that says Marawi is a military reservation.  For those who did return, they were devastated at how their homes were destroyed by military airstrikes and looted by both the ISIS-inspired groups and the Philippine Military.

The international interfaith humanitarian delegation is concerned at the initial rehabilitation programs presented by the Philippine government that favor foreign and local investors and loaded with foreign loans. With two international lending companies – World Bank and Asian Development Bank  – taking the lead in planning the city’s reconstruction combined with President Duterte’s Build Build Build program, rehabilitation efforts are directed towards gaining profit from the war and devastation rather than to bring back Marawi residents.

At the ASEAN and East Asian Summit, East Asia governments have lauded the President’s response to the Marawi siege and firmed up more strict security measures to confront terrorism.  This raises alarm at how the victims of human rights violations in Marawi and the whole of Mindanao due to the military airstrikes and Martial Law declaration will find justice.

The International Interfaith Humanitarian Mission will take place on November 15-17 in Iligan City and Lanao del Sur with the aim to serve at least 2,000 IDPs, help empower and organize survivors and victims of internal displacements and all-out war in Marawi, document and collate the human rights situation in Marawi, express interfaith solidarity and unity with IDPs and other victims of human rights violations, and formulate recommendations on how to address the rehabilitation of communities impacted by all-out war in Marawi.#

Reference:

Jerome Succor Aba, Kalinaw Mindanao spokesperson, +639168448508

Peter Murphy, Chairperson, Global Council, ICHRP

After releasing a powerful joint statement expressing alarm over the human rights situation in the Philippines, a letter came the way of 39 nations encouraging them to call for the freedom of some 430 political prisoners in the country.

“I enjoin these States to call for the immediate release of Bishop Carlo Morales and all political prisoners in the Philippines,” said Maria Teofilina Morales, wife of the Ozamiz diocesan bishop of the Iglesia Filipina Independiente, in an open letter that welcomed the united stance.

The 39 states, including Australia, Canada, Germany and the United Kingdom, “remain concerned about the thousands of killings and climate of impunity associated with the war on drugs, and note recent stated commitments to observe due process in investigating these crimes.”

The statement, which also encouraged “safe spaces” for human rights defenders, among others, was read by Iceland on Sept. 28 at the 36th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland. Morales was also in the city as a member of the Philippine UPR Watch delegation to the Universal Periodic Review.

In her letter, Morales said her husband has been detained since May 11, with National Democratic Front peace consultant Rommel Salinas. She said her husband was an advocate of the peace process and environmental justice.

Hitting the government’s denial of impunity in the country, she said: “The persecution of church leaders and their members advocating for just and lasting peace and the attacks against human rights defenders through the practice of filing trumped up charges by state security forces in the Philippines are among the visible signs of impunity.”

She also called on the 39 states to discontinue assistance going to the Philippine National Police and the Armed Forces of the Philippines, the parties involved in issues of extrajudicial killings and militarization.

We publish the full letter below:

An Open Letter to the 39 Member States of the UN Human Rights Council* on the Immediate Release of Bishop Carlo Morales and all political prisoners in the Philippines

I am Maria Teofilina Morales, wife of The Rt. Revd. Carlo Morales, Bishop of the Diocese of Ozamis of the Iglesia Filipina Independiente (IFI), a member church of the World Council of Churches. I was with the Philippine UPR Watch, a delegation of victims of human rights violations, ecumenical leaders and human rights defenders, that participated in the recently concluded Universal Periodic Review on the Philippines in Geneva, Switzerland.

My husband has been in prison since May 11, 2017 on trumped up charges lodged by the state security forces to justify his illegal arrest and detention. I was arrested with him on that day, along with Isadome Dalid, IFI Diocesan driver and Mr. Rommel Salinas, peace consultant of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP). We were denied counsel during the first few hours of our detention. I and Mr. Dalid were freed a day after. Our daughters are gravely affected by this incident. They hope that they will be reunited with their father at the soonest time.

At present, there are 430 political prisoners in the country. There were also 848 cases of illegal arrests under the government of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte. During the start of his term, President Duterte promised to release political prisoners, but majority of them are still languishing in jail and their numbers are increasing.

Bishop Carlo is a known peace advocate especially in Mindanao (the Southern part of the Philippines) and has been active in the Philippine Ecumenical Peace Platform, a network of church leaders in our country advocating for the peace negotiations between the government and the NDFP. He is also a strong advocate for a safe and healthy environment, in particular in the defense of indigenous communities against mining and other projects that endanger the lives of the indigenous peoples and national minorities. His continued detention is a form of harassment and is meant to deter other human rights defenders in continuing their work.

On behalf of the victims and relatives of human rights violations, I welcome the statement of the 39 Member States of the UN HRC expressing concerns on extrajudicial killings and attacks against human rights defenders in the Philippines. I enjoin these States to call for the immediate release of Bp. Carlo Morales and all political prisoners in the Philippines. The persecution of church leaders and their members advocating for just and lasting peace and the attacks against human rights defenders through the practice of filing trumped up charges by state security forces in the Philippines are among the visible signs of impunity. I appeal to the 39 States to halt on all foreign aid and assistance to the Philippine National Police and the Armed Forces of the Philippines, lest these be used to further violate the people’s rights of my fellow Filipinos. #

*The 39 Member States of the UN HRC recently released a Joint Statement on the Philippines. These States are: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malta, Moldova, Montenegro, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Rumania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, The Netherlands, UK, Ukraine and United States.

Press Release | September 30, 2017

Amid the Philippine government’s continued denial of the existence of extrajudicial killings and the culture of impunity in the Philippines before United Nations processes, the Philippine UPR Watch, a delegation of victims of rights violations, ecumenical leaders, and human rights defenders who participated in the UN sessions in Geneva, Switzerland, called for the removal of the Philippines as a member of the UN Human Rights Council.

“Throughout the three cycles of the Universal Periodic Review, and most especially during the Duterte regime’s participation in the process, the Philippines has exhibited a total mockery of international human rights mechanisms,  with the government’s blatant distortion of facts on extrajudicial killings and human rights violations in the country, its record of using the UN as a platform to justify its crimes against the Filipino people, and its doubletalk on compliance to human rights instruments. We call on the UN to revoke the membership of Philippines at the UN HRC, especially as it continues its hardheaded position against any UN investigation on the killings,” said Philippine UPR Watch.

The group said the recent statements of presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella and Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano are no different from the Philippine government’s statements during the past two UPRs during the Macapagal-Arroyo and Aquino III regimes. “Through similar lines and sound bites, they have all painted a rosy picture of the human rights situation in the Philippines, while on the ground, the situation is getting worse for communities, with the drug war, the martial law in Mindanao and the continuing implementation of counter-insurgency programs,” they added.

Philippine UPR Watch also welcomed the statement of the thirty-nine states led by Iceland, that expressed concerns on the extrajudicial killings in relation to the drug war and rights violations against human rights defenders, indigenous peoples and journalists.

“The statement disproves the so-called win of the Philippine government at the UNHRC. We call on these States to withdraw their financial support, if any, for the Philippine National Police and the Armed Forces of the Philippines, and other programs that abet the human rights violations and the Filipino people, lest the peoples’ money from these countries will be used to further worsen the current situation,” the group emphasized.

Philippine UPR Watch reiterated its call to the international community to keep watch on the worsening climate of impunity in the Philippines and to provide support for the Filipino people’s campaign against Duterte’s tyrannical acts.#

References (Heads of Delegation):
Atty. Ephraim Cortez, secretary general, National Union of Peoples Lawyers, +639175465798
Jigs Clamor, deputy secretary general, Karapatan, +63999772123