Press Release (21 September 2017)
The 13-person delegation of the Philippine Universal Periodic Review Watch will hold a protest rally at the United Nations today as a show of support to the protest rally in Metro Manila against rising tyranny in the Philippines and to seek the support of UN member states and non-government organizations who are participating in the final session for the 2017 UN Universal Periodic Review ( UPR ) of Human Rights in the Philippines.
The protest rally at the famous Broken Chair near Palais de Nations, the venue for the 36th Session, will be participated in by different Filipino organizations who are presenting a case to the UN against the rising death toll under the Duterte administration due to his war on drugs, implementation of the US global “war on terror”, extra-judicial killing and the declaration of Martial Law in Mindanao.
The rally was planned to be conducted simultaneously with the rally in Metro Manila led by the Movement Against Tyranny which calls for a stop to the return of dictatorship in the Philippines and oppose all steps being done by the Duterte administration allies such as the impeachment process being prepared against Supreme Court Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno, the continued harassment of human rights defenders and activists.
“We appeal to the world leaders who are meeting today not to support the Duterte administration’s attack on the Filipino people and to hold his administration responsible for the hundreds of death due both to his anti-illegal drugs campaign called ‘Operation Tokhang” and politically-motivated killings under Oplan Kapayapaan,” said Roneo Clamor, spokesperson and co-head of delegation of the Philippine UPR Watch.
Delegates from the peasant sector, Lumad and Moro people will give testimonies on the impact of Duterte’s declaration of Martial Law in Mindanao and the use of military airstrikes that has caused the massive loss of lives and properties in Marawi.
The Philippine UPR Watch is composed of the 13-member delegation of rights defenders and sectoral representatives from peoples’ organizations, churches and institutions, some of whom have also been recently subjected to rights violations. They are as follows: Atty. Ephraim Cortez, National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (co-head of the delegation), Roneo S. Clamor, KARAPATAN (co-head of the delegation); members: Eufemia Cullamat, Amirah Lidasan, Sandugo, Sharon Cabusao, Gabriela, Mary Joan Guan, Center for Women’s Resources (CWR), Eule Bonganay, Childrens’ Rehabilitation Center (CRC), Johanna Dela Cruz, National Council of Churches in the Philippines (NCCP), Maria Teofelina Morales, wife of Bishop Carlo Morales and from NCCP, Beverly Longid, IPMSDL-RMP, Antonio Flores, Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP), Bro. Ciriaco Santiago, Angie Gonzales and Doris Wilson of the International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP).#
References (Heads of Delegation):
Atty. Ephraim Cortez, secretary general, National Union of Peoples Lawyers, (+63) 9175465798
Roneo Clamor, deputy secretary general, Karapatan, (+63) 9997721233
