Launch of an independent international investigation into alleged human rights violations in PH

MANILA – A group of popular and civil society organizations launched an independent international investigation into the human rights situation in the Philippines on Thursday.

A group of popular and civil society organizations has launched an independent international investigation into the human rights situation of PH, called “InvestigatePH”. Organized by the International Coalition for Human Rights in PH, it is made up of representatives of lawyers, unions and religious groups. pic.twitter.com/u7DXQoqgRH

– Mike Navallo (@mikenavallo) December 17, 2020

Organized by the United States-based International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP), the group formed a commission called “InvestigatePH” made up of representatives from various lawyers and religious groups, as well as trade unions in the United States and Canada. and Australia.

Members of the commission include representatives from the National Lawyers’ Group (NLG), the International Association of Democratic Lawyers (IADL), the United Church of Canada, the World Communion of Reformed Churches, and the United Methodist Church in the United States. US.

Its Philippine partners include the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL), Rise UP, and the Karapatan coalition of human rights groups.

The creation of InvestigatePH was prompted by the UN Human Rights Council resolution of October 2020 that only called for support for the promotion of human rights in the Philippines through technical cooperation and capacity development, in the absence of a independent international investigation that human rights groups have been requesting.

A June 2020 report by United Nations Human Rights Commissioner Michelle Bachelet had documented widespread human rights violations and persistent impunity in the Philippines.

ICHRP President Peter Murphy said they hope the InvestigatePH outcome will update the Bachelet report and help create an environment for the UN Human Rights Council, the UN General Assembly and the International Criminal Court to make their job.

NUPL’s Edre Olalia said InvestigatePH’s areas of investigation will include restrictions on freedoms, killings related to drug trafficking or use, human rights violations in connection with the pandemic, as well as violations of international humanitarian law.

He said they will conduct face-to-face investigations and digital interviews.

Sources will include victims, family members, different sectors and communities, human rights defenders, civil society groups, specialists / specialists, Philippine government officials, and international governments.

InvestigatePH will cover incidents from the start of Duterte’s administration in July 2016 through the end of this year, unless there are supervening events, the group said.

He hopes to present his report in time for the HRC sessions in February, June and September next year.

“The world is getting smaller, as far as the Philippine government is concerned. The world is getting closer, so to speak, ”said Olalia, pointing to various groups that spoke out, from the HRC, the rapporteurs, the European Council, the members of the United States Congress, to the latest report from the prosecutor of the CPI.

Jeanne Mirer, co-chair of the International Committee of the National Lawyers Group and chair of the IADL, said they will make the report available to the Filipino people as an authoritative document that could be used as a basis for seeking remedies and for further education.

‘TACTICS OF THE DUTERTE REGIME MATTER TO STATE TERRORISM’

Among those involved in the investigation is former Australian senator Lee Rhiannon, who said she found PH’s testimonies “troubling” and, since her visit to Manila last year, attacks on Filipinos’ human rights have only increased.

“This is definitely a global problem. The world community, I believe, has a responsibility to speak up. We must not allow the appeal for human rights to be hijacked. Accountability must be part of the justice and democratic system, ”he said.

Rhiannon said that under the Philippine government’s counterinsurgency program, human rights violations continue.

“Those who speak are victims, often incarcerated. It is not uncommon to plant false evidence. The tactics of the Duterte regime amount to state terrorism. Democracy is slipping away in (the Philippines), ”he said.

“The evidence is overwhelming. The testimonies as we know them, tragic. What is happening in the Philippines amounts to crimes against humanity. These crimes must end. Rights abuses must be investigated and perpetrators held accountable ”.

The Rev. Michael Blair, general secretary of the United Church of Canada, said it is important to amplify the voices of Filipinos in the international community, while for the Rev. Dr. Chris Ferguson, general secretary of the World Communion of Reformed Churches, the investigation is telling truth to power.

“It is not simply an investigative report prepared through the legal process, but rather a fight for people to see an end to impunity. We are really trying to mobilize the international community so that this is an issue that will not go away, ”he said.

The Rev. Dr. Susan Henry-Crowe of the United Methodist Church said that they will also work in the political arena supporting movements in the United States Congress to call for a review of the US economic and aid arrangements with the Philippines, and to call for suspension of official development assistance to the Philippine army until it adheres to human rights standards.

The Armed Forces of the Philippines said on December 10, International Human Rights Day, that they “defend human rights and continue to defend their principles, even in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, in the performance of our mandate.” . “

“The adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) in 1948 will continue to hold us accountable for our commitment to protect human rights, especially in conflict. To this end, we urge everyone to join us in resisting radicalization and seeking a just end to all violence, ”said AFP in a statement issued by its public affairs office.

‘AUTHENTIC’ HOUSEHOLD INVESTIGATIONS

The Philippine government had always insisted that it was not necessary to carry out an international investigation into the human rights situation in the country because the national mechanisms are working.

Presidential spokesman Harry Roque, who once campaigned for the Philippines to ratify the Rome Statute that created the ICC, said Tuesday that the ICC would be wasting time and money if it pursues an investigation into the Philippines.

Among the steps the Philippine government took after the Bachelet report was the creation of a drug review panel to re-investigate murders related to the war on drugs, which was supposed to publish an initial report in November.

“There is no responsibility. We don’t see anything happening now. The drug review panel was supposed to report on murders from the war on drugs last November, as Secretary Menardo Guevarra promised to the UN Human Rights Council. But there were none, ”said Cristina Palabay, Karapatan’s secretary general.

Palabay noted that a lower than 100% prosecution and conviction rate for perpetrators in both the drug war and other cases of human rights violations is not acceptable.

Olalia recalled that the internal investigations of the Philippine government must be “genuine.”

“Symbolic investigations or prosecutions, given the severity and intensity of the violations, will fail in comparison. The claims and accusations cannot measure up to the facts and the empirical data. A conviction in front of more than 5,000 murders says it all, ”he said.

“The claim of internal resources and their availability to start is always an excuse to divert the focus of the bodies … to investigate the authenticity, effectiveness and accessibility of these investigations,” he added.

So far, the Justice Department has yet to announce when it will release the drug war review panel report, seen by many human rights organizations as the Philippine government’s way of evading a full-blown UNHRC investigation into the country.

The launch of InvestigatePH follows the release of the ICC Prosecutor’s Office report, which says there is a “reasonable basis” to believe that crimes against humanity occurred in the country since July 1, 2016 when the president Duterte took office until March 16, 2019, when the Philippines’ withdrawal from the ICC went into effect.

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