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Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, September 18) – The Parliament of the European Union denounced the deterioration of the state of human rights and freedom of the press in the Philippines under the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte.
The EU Parliament on Wednesday adopted a resolution condemning the situation in the country with 626 votes in favor, seven against and 52 abstentions.
EU lawmakers criticized the alarming extrajudicial killings and other human rights violations committed in the Duterte government’s war on drugs.
In relation, the EU Parliament recognized the June 2020 report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights that pointed to the war on drugs in the country due to its “widespread and systematic killings”.
READ: UN rights chief says Duterte fights drugs without regard for due process, human rights
He urged EU member states to support a resolution at the ongoing 45th session of the UN Human Rights Council, which seeks to launch an independent international investigation into human rights violations committed in the Philippines since Duterte took office in 2016.
The EU resolution also denounced “threats, harassment, intimidation, unfair prosecutions and violence” against journalists in the country.
In particular, European lawmakers appealed to drop the case against Rappler CEO Maria Ressa and former Rappler investigator Reynaldo Santos Jr. The two journalists from the online news organization were convicted of cyber defamation on 15 May. June in a case brought by businessman Wilfredo Keng. .
The EU Parliament also urged the Duterte administration to renew the broadcasting license of the media giant ABS-CBN. The Philippine House of Representatives denied ABS-CBN’s offer for a new franchise on July 5, citing accusations of dual citizenship by its president emeritus Eugenio “Gabby” López III, tax evasion schemes, lack of regularization of its employees and biased reporting.
The group also says the Philippine government should drop all politically motivated charges against the detained senator Leila de Lima. They also called for her release to “freely exercise her rights and duties as an elected representative.”
EU lawmakers also expressed serious concerns about the approval of the Anti-Terrorism Law, emphasizing that “under no circumstances can promotion, protest, dissent, strikes and other similar exercises of civil and political rights be considered terrorist acts.”
The EU Parliament also condemned all forms of violence against women, children and LGBTQI people, the increasing levels of corruption in the Philippine government and the ongoing procedures to reinstate the death penalty.
Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said Thursday that the Philippine government has never neglected its responsibility to care for victims of human rights violations.
Roque made the comment in response to a speech by UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet during the opening of the 45th session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland, on Monday. She called for an end to government policies that have led to murders and human rights violations in the war on drugs.
READ: 62 groups ask the UN for an independent investigation into murders of people with disabilities and human rights abuses
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