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MANILA, Philippines – The UN Human Rights Council (HRC) resolution calling for “technical assistance and capacity building” for national human rights efforts does not meet the expectations of a real investigation into the killings in the country’s Commission on Human Rights (CHR) said on Friday.
“It really does not meet the expectations of the human rights community,” CHR Commissioner Karen Gomez-Dumpit said in an interview with ABS-CBN News Channel.
“It falls short, but there is still room for improvement and this resolution actually provides an opportunity for the Philippine government to show its sincerity, to show that it can demonstrate credible efforts towards accountability, particularly here in the Philippines,” he added.
The resolution adopted during the council’s 45th session in Geneva, Switzerland, on Wednesday (Manila time), urges High Commissioner Michelle Bachelet to “provide support to the country in the continued fulfillment of its international human rights obligations and commitments.”
He also urged member states and relevant UN agencies to “encourage and support technical cooperation between the Philippine government and OHCHR.”
When asked if the HRC is giving the Duterte government too many opportunities to improve the human rights situation in the country even with the death toll in the so-called war on drugs, Gómez-Dumpit said: “This is how the council works, and this is a multilateral body. It is a state-run body, so they are offered that opportunity. “
“If you take note of the technical cooperation, at the end of it the operative paragraph says that the High Commissioner will report orally one year later. This is something that we are anticipating, so they have a year to be able to demonstrate credible efforts on the ground, “he added.
Malacañang on Thursday welcomed the offer of technical assistance from the UNHRC and promised full cooperation to the council.
But for Gomez-Dumpit, this commitment by the Philippine government should “translate into certain indicators.”
“We will have a list and we will continue to monitor whether the situation on the ground is improving,” he said.
He also pointed out that the government’s expressions to commit to the HRC are only “impressions,” noting that there has been no notable improvement in the human rights situation in the country.
“There is an opening that they are trying to engage with the UN, but these are just impressions. As I said, these are just impressions, so it remains to be seen how it can be translated into concrete actions, ”said the CDH official.
“The killings are still going on, the harassment is still spreading, so let’s see the change in government action not only in terms of these claims and impressions that we are open, we promise full cooperation. How can that be translated? “she added.
EDV
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