A Joint Oral Statement to the 7th Session of the UN Human Rights Council from the International Association of Democratic Lawyers (IADL), supported by the World Council of Churches (WCC), Lawyers Rights Watch of Canada (LRWC), Asian Legal Resource Center (ALRC), Asian Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Network (AITPN), Indigenous Peoples’ Coalition (IPC), and Nord Sud XXI
PHILIPPINES: Attacks on Human Rights Defenders denounced
Thank you, Mr. President:
I am speaking on behalf of the International Association of Democratic Lawyers. This statement is joined by seven other NGOs.
I come from the human rights lawyers’ groups in the Philippines.
We wish to address the issue of human rights defenders and would like to take the opportunity to commend Ms. Hina Jilani, Special Representative of the Secretary General for her report. We salute her for her exemplary and courageous work. We welcome the report particularly on the role of stakeholders in implementing its recommendations.
The addendum mentioned the extrajudicial killing of human rights lawyer Gil Gojol who was killed after coming from a court hearing and of the surveillance of the Prolabor Legal Assistance Center which provides free legal aid to workers.
These attacks violate the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers and the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders.
These attacks are emblematic of the continuing attacks not only against lawyers – a significant number of whom are involved directly in human rights advocacy. These are also part of the impunity of the attacks against hundreds of other human rights defenders within the context of a militarist counter-insurgency approach. Suffice it to say that until today, no one has been credibly convicted for these attacks.
The Special Representative correctly pointed out that the attacks may have been related to activities in the defense of human rights. The impunity prompted one foreign lawyer to quip that these attacks may indicate that “the Philippines is the worst place for human rights defenders to be.”
These cases are incompatible with the Philippines’ pledges as a member of the Council. The Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal views as “unacceptable” the inclusion of the Philippine government as a member of the Council because “it undermines the credibility of the UN in this field; is an intolerable offense to the victims; and is a denial of the many well documented denunciations of the dramatic violations of human rights.”
The Special Representative observed that the high incidence of forced disappearances and extrajudicial killings of human rights defenders in the Philippines remains a deep concern and that the absence of any credible investigation may indicate that “human rights defenders in the Philippines are unable to fully carry out their work due to fear of intimidation and reprisal.” Even foreign human rights defenders have been placed on the government’s immigration “blacklist/watchlist” for their involvement against human rights violations.
We support the recommendation of the Special Representative that the situation of human rights defenders be examined in the upcoming Universal Periodic Review.
We request the Council to fully support the mandate on Human Rights defenders and encourage the mandate holder to continue to support the struggle of the people for the promotion and protection of human rights.
Thank you, Mr. President.
Webcast video: rtsp://webcast.un.org/ondemand/conferences/unhrc/seventh/hrc080313pm1-eng.rm?start=00:28:46&end=00:31:38
