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World Church leader calls for minute of silence for human rights victims in Philippines

ICHRP Secretariat
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World Church leader calls for minute of silence for human rights victims in Philippines

5 May 2017

Press Release

 

References:

Atty. Ephraim Cortez, Secretary General, National Union of Peoples Lawyers, +639175465798

Jigs Clamor, Deputy Secretary General, Karapatan and co-heads, Philippine UPR Watch delegation, +639997721233

 

“Sisters and brothers from the Philippines, we are following your work and we are supporting you in raising one voice for justice. Therefore, one voice for peace.” This was the gist of a statement made by the World Council of Churches General Secretary Rev. Dr. Olav Fykes Tveit in his opening remarks during the formal opening of the photo exhibit sponsored by the UPR Watch Philippines on May 5, 2017 at the World Council of Churches (WCC) Ecumenical Center in Geneva, Switzerland.

Dr. Tveit called for one minute of silence to remember the numerous victims of extrajudicial killings and political prisoners still languishing in various detention centers in the country. “We stand for those who are oppressed. We search for the truth. We let the truth speak to us and we share it to the world,” Tveit said, referring to victims of extra-judicial killings and political prisoners still languishing in different Philippine jails.

WCC is the broadest and among the most inclusive international ecumenical organization which counts among its members 345 protestant churches, institutions and church fellowship with an ECOSOC status with the United Nations. The photo exhibit organized by the Philippine UPR Watch is part of a series of events organized by the Philippine UPR Watch in time for the 3rd Cycle of the Universal Periodic Review of the Philippines.

The exhibit showcases various photographs by top Filipino photojournalists that graphically depicts cases of human rights violations under both the present and past administrations. It focused on the brutality of the anti-drug campaign being waged by the Duterte Government.

The exhibit also portrays the plight of political prisoners and other forms of human rights violations perpetrated against the indigenous peoples and national minorities. “It is of utmost concern for us that despite the UPR, human rights violations still occur in the Philippines, and is in fact worsening. What is even worst is the fact that both the Aquino and the Duterte Administrations are dismissive of the accusations that human rights violations were, and are being committed under their watch,” said Atty. Ephraim B. Cortez, secretary general, National Union of Peoples Lawyers Secretary General who gave an overview on the objectives of the photo exhibit.

Sharon Cabusao Silva of Gabriela, a political prisoner under the Aquino government and spokesperson for the Free our Sisters, Free Ourselves campaign gave an account on the plight of women political prisoners currently languishing in different jails in the Philippines. “They are accused of trumped-up charges and are being tried even as there is no evidence linking them to the crime.” Cabusao-Silva cited the case of Miradel Torres who was falsely accused of murder. “In a hearing, PAO Chief Persida Acosta, who defends Torres in the case, was able to make the sole prosecution witness admit that his entire testimony was based merely on a military intelligence report listing the names of all activists in the area where the supposed ambush of military men by the New People’s Army took place. Torres was four months pregnant at that time, and had taken time off from her organizing work for GABRIELA Southern Luzon when the supposed ambush took place.” Inspite of this, Cabusao-Silva said, “Miradel’s trial continues and she has now been incarcerated for almost four years while her two young sons grow up in poverty.” ###

A side event on the UPR of the Philippines – 3rd cycle

ICHRP Secretariat
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UPR Philippines: Third Cycle

 

Side Event

Monday, 08 May 2017, 12:30-14:30

Room XXIII, Palais des Nations, Geneva

UPR Side event flyer 08May2017

UPR Watch Philippines delegation arrive in Geneva

ICHRP Secretariat
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Press Release | May 5, 2017
 
Contact Info (in Geneva) :
Atty. Ephraim Cortez, ‪+639175465798‬
Jigs Clamor, (Viber) ‪+639997721233‬
Email :  phuprwatch@gmail.com
 
Geneva, Switzerland – Members of the Philippine UPR  Watch delegation arrived in Geneva, Switzerland yesterday, May 4, 2017, to attend the third cycle of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) on the Philippines by the UN Human Rights Council. The delegation will be meeting with Geneva-based missions to put forward several issues and recommendations pertaining to human rights issues during the period under review, which covers the last four years of the Aquino government and the first six
months of the Duterte administration.
 
The group will highlight the following recommendations in their meetings and presentations:
 
·  Put an end to extrajudicial killings including those related to the war on drugs, enforced disappearances, illegal arrests and detention, torture, harassment and other human rights violations.
 
·  Stop the implementation of counter-insurgency programs that target human rights defenders and civilians. Stop operations by the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) in communities and immediately pull-out military units. Dismantle and disarm the paramilitary groups.
 
·  Unconditional release of all political prisoners and the halt to criminalisation of human rights defenders. 
 
·  Continue peace negotiations with the National Democratic Front of the Philippines and with groups in Mindanao (Southern Philippines) struggling for self-determination.
 
·  Protect indigenous peoples’ inherent, prior, existing and inalienable right to ancestral lands and their indivisible, inter-related and interdependent right to self-determination as reflected in international declarations and conventions, and review all conflicting domestic laws, including the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act.
 
·  Improve the jail management and penology system in the country.
 
·  Conduct a review of the implementation of the Magna Carta on Women.
 
·  Issue invitations to UN special procedures mandate holders, including those with pending requests.
 
The delegation will also hold meetings with church groups in Europe and organize public events and fora with the Filipino community in Switzerland and other parts of Europe.
 
Members of the delegation already in Geneva include Atty. Ephraim Cortez of the National Union of People’s Lawyers (NUPL), Jigs Clamor (KARAPATAN), Sharon Cabusao-Silva (GABRIELA), Bro. Ciriaco Santiago, CssR (Rise Up), Nardy Sabino (Promotion of Church People’s Response), Pastor Jerome Baris (UCCP), Jojo Guan (Center for Women’s Resources), Pia Malayao (KATRIBU) and Beverly Longid (Rural Missionaries of the Philippines-Northern Mindanao
Region ). ###

Philippine UPR Watch: Climate of impunity getting worse in the Philippines

ICHRP Secretariat
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Philippine UPR Watch: Climate of impunity getting worse in the Philippines

Reposted from: http://nccphilippines.org/blog/2017/04/28/philippine-upr-watch-climate-of-impunity-getting-worse-in-ph/

On May 8, 2017, the Philippines will undergo the 3rd Cycle of Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC). The UPR is a mechanism under the UNHRC where member states’ fulfilment of its obligations to international rights treaties will be assessed by their peers and make recommendations. This process started in 2008 and the National Council of Churches in the Philippines (NCCP) and Karapatan, along with other members of the Ecumenical Voice for Human Rights and Peace in the Philippines (Ecu Voice), have convened the Philippine UPR Watch and formed a delegation to Geneva, Switzerland, to engage in the process. Since then, the network has submitted timely reports to the Council and for this 3rd Cycle, the 24 member organizations have submitted 15 individual stakeholder’s report and 3 joint reports.

The submissions show that following the first (2008) and second (2012) Universal Period Reviews on the Philippines and despite the commitment by the Philippine government to implement recommendations put forward by other countries (in 2008 the Philippine government agreed to 12 out of 17 recommendations, in 2012 the Philippine government agreed to implement 63 out of the 88 recommendations), many of these recommendations have not been implemented fully and there has been little change in the overall human rights situation in the Philippines. The submissions highlight different types of human rights violations that have occurred after the second UPR under the government of then President Benigo Simeon C. Aquino III and the first few months of the term of current President Rodrigo Roa Duterte.

For the Philippine UPR Watch, there has been no significant change in the human rights situation in the country and the climate of impunity has worsened.

Under President Benigno Aquino III for the period January 2012 to June 2016, there were 249 extra-judicial killings, 501 cases of frustrated extrajudicial killings, 17 victims of enforced disappearance, 144 cases of torture, 8 cases of rape, 891 illegal arrests, and 191,029 cases of threats/harassments/intimidation and numerous other cases involving communities and thousands of individuals as documented by the human rights group Karapatan.

Since President Duterte has assumed office, extrajudicial killings under the pretext of the war on drugs hogged the headlines in the past few months. Thousands were killed without due process, mostly from urban poor communities. While the killings attributed to the war on drugs have continued to gain media mileage, violations that are political in nature continue unabated. There are no specific measures on the part of government to actively protect the rights of human rights defenders. The latter continue to be subject to threat and intimidation, surveillance, trumped up charges, red-tagging, enforced disappearances, and extra-judicial killing. The human rights group Karapatan has documented 47 cases of extra-judicial killings under the Duterte administration that are politically motivated and involving mostly human rights defenders.

In communities, especially in the rural areas, militarization continues in the light of the Duterte administration’s version of counter-insurgency program, Oplan Kapayapaan. Military forces of the government continue to mass up in Mindanao. Communities suspected of supporting rebel groups have been targeted for aerial bombings displacing thousands of civilians.

With the killing of Lumad leaders and farmers and the displacement of their communities by the military and the paramilitary groups under the Aquino government up to the spate of killings in the Anti-Drug Campaign of the current President, Rodrigo Duterte display the brazenness of human rights violations being carried out in the Philippines and the climate of impunity that persists.

The failure to apprehend and prosecute the perpetrators of killings and human rights violations during the administrations of Presidents Arroyo and Aquino has greatly contributed to the worsening climate of impunity in the country. It can be said this accentuated the brazenness and impunity under the present government of President Duterte.

There is no improvement in the sphere of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights as well. Education, housing and health remain to be inaccessible. The recent much publicized action of an urban poor organization KADAMAY exposed the anemic housing program of the government. The action of the farmers of Hacienda Luisita also shows that landlessness continues to be a stark reality. Significant number of workers are still facing contractualization, low wages and forced migration. President Duterte has not made a significant difference compared to the previous administration in the context of socio-economic rights concerns.

A ray of hope that can impact on the human rights situation in the country is the peace negotiations between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP). If both parties, especially the government, follow the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL), there is bound to be a marked improvement of the situation on the ground. The recent round of formal talks ended with a positive note with both parties agreeing that the principle of free distribution of land to farmers and peasants would uphold social, economic and cultural rights. There is also the possibility of a joint ceasefire. The international community can help by monitoring the process closely and calling both sides to respect and honor obligations arising from the negotiating table.

The Philippine UPR Watch has brought these concerns to the UN Human Rights Council through our reports and on May 8, the 10-member delegation composed of rights defenders and sectoral representatives from peoples’ organizations, churches and institutions, some of whom have also been subjected to rights violations in the past, will highlight these concerns before the UNHRC. The task now is to keep watch. To see to it that the Philippines adheres to its commitments to international human rights instruments.

ICHRP calls for continuation of GRP-NDFP Peace Talks

ICHRP Secretariat
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ICHRP calls for continuation of GRP-NDFP Peace Talks

President Rodrigo Duterte’s unilateral declaration of an indefinite cancellation of peace negotiations between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) can still be opened for reconsideration.

The President’s order to arrest NDFP peace negotiators released on bail can be rescinded for substantial talks to continue.

Talks can still continue even as both unilateral ceasefire declarations have been lifted. This is not impossible. In fact, it has been the experience of many peace negotiations.

The current GRP-NDFP talks could either go down in ignominy or it can forge a new beginning in the country’s history.

Compelling reason for talks

There is compelling reason for the talks to continue.

It is to address the roots of the armed conflict, in a country mired by increasing poverty, widening inequity and worsening injustice. There is an urgent need to resolve the continuing socioeconomic and political crises that hinder genuine national development.

It is to the interest of the nation, the Filipino people, and the world’s peoples to pursue peace. The headway made at the resumption of peace talks in August last year firmly grounded the talks on the principles of sovereignty, democracy and social justice.

President Rodrigo Duterte’s cancellation of the talks was made, ironically, after the third round of the GRP-NDFP peace negotiations held January 19-25, 2017 in Rome – at a point when substantial, accelerated and historic progress had been made.

For instance, during this round, members of both the panels worked together to finalize guidelines for the Joint Monitoring Committee of the CARHRIHL (Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law). This was an important product of the peace negotiations, as CARHRIHL is a key document that, if adhered to by all parties, would help to settle many of the problems plaguing the peace process, including the continuing detention of political prisoners, continuing human rights violations, and matters of implementation of the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG).

Moreover, progress was made in the discussion of the substantive portions of the Comprehensive Agreement on Socio Economic Reforms (CASER), which covered agrarian reform and rural development. The joint statement of the two panels stated that they “agreed in principle to the free distribution of land to farmers and farm workers as part of the governing frameworks of CASER.”

Significantly, this is a first in the country’s entire history and a precedent for other peace negotiations.

The forging and signing of the CASER would then form the basis for further agreements on political and constitutional reforms and further on to the end of hostilities and disposition of forces.

In the same round, both panels were also able to exchange their respective tentative drafts of the Comprehensive Agreement on Political and Constitutional Reforms (CAPCR), as well as their respective comparative matrices of these drafts.

We were excitedly looking forward to further positive developments in the peace process as the Negotiating Panels indicated to have their respective ceasefire committees meet in The Netherlands on 22-27 February 2017 to discuss their respective drafts of the bilateral ceasefire and have already set the next round of talks in Oslo, Norway on 2-6 April 2017.

Excitement gave way to grave disappointment, however, upon hearing President Rodrigo Duterte’s pronouncements regarding the cancellation of the Peace Talks with the NDFP made February 4.

Worse, we have seen mainstream media highlighting skirmishes between government and rebel troops, ceasefire violations focusing on the killing of soldiers but largely ignoring the plight of communities affected by military and para-military operations.

On ceasefires and continuation of the talks

Ceasefires have been declared by the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) – New People’s Army (NPA) in the past in consideration of the people’s interests — either for the Yuletide season or in cases of calamities such as supertyphoon Yolanda requiring massive humanitarian efforts for relief and rehabilitation. The latest ceasefire is part of showing goodwill for the peace talks.

The announcement of lifting the ceasefire by the CPP-NPA effective February 10 this year, according to several statements of the CPP-NPA, was decided based on the people’s clamor for defense in the face of continuing military onslaughts in the guise of “peace and development”.

Indeed, we have been receiving news about continuing human rights violations in the country. The continuing civil-military operations of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), previously under Aquino’s Oplan Bayanihan (since 2017, dubbed as Oplan Kapayapaan), are patterned after the US-designed “whole-of-nation” approach in war and counter-insurgency. As a result, at least 20 farmers and indigenous peoples have been killed and thousands continuously harassed and displaced from their communities with the use of military and para-military forces in the last six months.

Reacting to the CPP-NPA-NDFP’s lifting of its unilateral ceasefire declaration, President Duterte chose to lift the GRP’s unilateral ceasefire as well. Much further than the mere lifting of the ceasefire order, however, he made several pronouncements canceling the peace talks altogether, named the CPP-NPA-NDFP “terrorists”, and even ordered the arrest of the JASIG protected NDFP negotiators, in clear violation of the content and intent of the JASIG.

As previously agreed by the GRP and the NDFP, the termination of the safety guarantees can only take effect 30 days after a party has officially informed the other of its termination. The purpose of this provision is to allow representatives of both parties to disengage and at the same time allow the terminating party an opportunity to change its mind and withdraw its termination.

Ceasefires have their pros and cons and should not be decisive in the continuation of peace talks. While a ceasefire may provide a conducive environment to the talks, it may also be used by militarist elements in the government to sabotage the peace process. We pray that the peace spoilers will not be successful in using the lifting of the ceasefires to lead to the termination of the peace talks.

A bumpy road to peace

More than a generation has been witness to past peace negotiations with the Philippine government.

The NDFP first entered into peace negotiations and a 60-day ceasefire with the government more than 30 years ago, in 1986. The talks collapsed after the bloody massacre of farmers at Mendiola in January 1987.

The government unsheathed the “sword of war” under the US low-intensity conflict using rabid anti-communist vigilante killings. Additional divisions were added to the armed forces.

Talks resumed in 1992 with the foundation for peace negotiations agreed upon in The Hague Joint Declaration. Talks made substantial progress with the signing of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL) in 1998.

Further negotiations were terminated in July 1999 after the government approved the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) with the US. Formal negotiations resumed in June 2001 but in February 2004, the talks recessed and later were suspended by the government.

In a post-9/11 “war on terror”, the US included in its listing as “foreign terrorist organizations” (FTOs) the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), its armed wing the New People’s Army (NPA), and the NDFP chief political consultant Prof. Jose Ma. Sison. The European Union immediately followed suit.

Three rounds of talks were held in 2004 but the GRP ordered a full reframing of the talks and unilaterally suspended the Joint Agreement of Security and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG) in August 2005.

It took six years before GRP-NDFP talks resumed in 2011 but failed anew with the GRP’s non-compliance of the JASIG. By mid-2013, the GRP announced that they are no longer willing to return to the negotiating table. NDFP negotiators and consultants were harassed, arrested and detained.

First and foremost among the lessons is that the talks really need to address the fundamental causes of the armed conflict chiefly rooted in systemic poverty, inequity and injustice. Secondly, agreements made should be respected, implemented and complied with.

The GRP-NDFP Peace Talks under the Duterte administration have already made very important headway into the path to just and lasting peace. We hope that the latest hurdle will eventually be overcome.

Looking forward

There can only be a cessation of hostilities after social and economic reforms and constitutional and political reforms are tackled as earlier agreed upon and embodied in The Hague Declaration of 1992.

It is up to Pres. Duterte to make up his mind to continue and make further progress in the peace process by complying with previously signed agreements in the course of the GRP-NDFP peace talks.

The seeds to just and lasting peace can still be sown by this generation, within Pres. Duterte’s term, if he heeds the people’s undying cry for peace.

The International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines joins the Filipino progressive organizations, groups and individuals, from trade unions to farmers organizations to church groups and peace advocates, in clamoring for a return of both panels to the negotiating table.

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