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Manila, Philippines – The United Nations Human Rights Council (HRC) approved a resolution on Wednesday (Manila time) calling for “technical assistance and capacity building” for national human rights efforts, falling far short of the expectations of a real investigation into state violence in the Philippines.
HRC Resolution No. 45, which was adopted by consensus (without a vote) during the 45th session of the council in Geneva, Switzerland, urges High Commissioner Michelle Bachelet to “support the country in its continued fulfillment of its obligations and commitments. international human rights “It was sponsored by Iceland, the Philippines and six other nations.
The resolution also urges member states and relevant UN agencies to “encourage and support technical cooperation between the Philippine government and OHCHR.”
Resolution No. 45 of the HRC comes two months after a damning UN report that concludes that the Philippine government’s policies, particularly with regard to the war on drugs, have resulted in “systematic violations including killings, arbitrary arrests and defamation. of dissent “.
Rather than moving forward with an independent investigation, the UN HRC “acknowledges” government initiatives to review and reevaluate extrajudicial killings and other human rights violations (HRVs) under the police-led war on drugs.
The resolution also highlighted the government’s cooperation and involvement with the HRC, including its “announcement of the creation of a review panel that would reevaluate cases in which deaths occurred during operations under the campaign against illegal drugs.”
Human rights groups expressed disappointment with the “unexpected” resolution “as it did not meet the expectations of HRV victims here.”
Under OHCHR, technical assistance generally involves mutual cooperation between the office and the state.
Examples of such agreements include human rights assessment, advisory services on institutional development and legislative work, workshops and other best practices for sharing.
However, technical assistance means that “the office would be accompanied by the party under scrutiny,” explained the president of the National Union of People’s Lawyers, Edre Olalia.
“So the question we have to ask ourselves next is, is this directly related to liability? Or is it more about defense? It’s not totally useless, but the benchmark set by (UN Human Rights Rapporteur Agnes) Callamard was already high. Why suddenly lower our expectations? Olalia asked.
He added that the adoption of the “problematic resolution” was a “delicate mitigation” of the cries for justice, even as the Philippine government “gave in” to widespread international criticism.
“It is still a good starting point, but it is not enough because it is not a direct call to bring the perpetrators and facilitators (of state violence) into play,” he said.
Echoing Olalia’s sentiments, Karapatan Secretary General Cristina Palabay challenged the government to “allow access to the UN human rights mechanisms in the country to assess the national accountability mechanisms if they really work and if they have nothing to hide. “
The group stated that “any technical assistance and capacity-building measure must come from a concrete assessment of the realities on the ground.”
“These so-called domestic mechanisms have been routinely put forward to portray a robust democracy, but time and time again they have been seen to have utterly failed to deliver justice and account for victims of human rights violations,” he said. Palabay in a statement.
While the HRC resolution was a sign that the international community remains committed to closely monitoring the human rights situation in the country, it still “looks with disappointment at the urgent demands of the victims, their families and communities for substantial steps towards justice and accountability. ” she scored.
“We strongly believe that technical cooperation and capacity building activities will not stop human rights violations by the administration. This can only be done by ending the killings and other rights violations, prosecuting the perpetrators of such violations, repealing the laws and policies that facilitate these violations, and through an international, independent and impartial investigation into these violations, which is even more urgent if no changes occur after this resolution, “he added.
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