Latest News

Lawyer Jude Sabio, legal counsel of self-confessed member of the Davao Death Squad Edgar Matobato, recently expressed his fear of persecution against him and other human rights defenders, particularly those who have filed complaints at the International Criminal Court (ICC). The country’s withdrawal of its ratification of the Rome Statute takes effect on March 17, 2019. 

Brigadier General Antonio Parlade Jr., deputy chief of staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), has consistently red-tagged Karapatan in several interviews and statements. Parlade is among the representatives of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF) which made rounds in diplomatic missions in Europe. Among Parlade and the NTF’s modus operandi is to red-tag and discredit organizations, including Karapatan and the Rural Missionaries of the Philippines, who have worked for decades in their commitment to uphold, protect, and defend human rights.

On March 15, 2019, Karapatan and Rural Missionaries of the Philippines (RMP) filed complaints with the Joint Monitoring Committeee of the Government of the Republic of the Philippines with regard to the red-tagging and terrorist-labelling of said organizations. The filing was also done a day prior to the 21st year of the signing of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL). CARHRIHL was an agreement entered into between the government of the Philippines and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) on March 16, 1998 in the Hague, Netherlands.

On March 2, 2019, a 400-delegation was organized to conduct a humanitarian mission in several villages in Guihulngan City. Various human rights and people’s organizations and Guihulngan residents joined the said mission. Soldiers from the 94th Infantry Battalion-Philippine Army tried to disallow the entry of the humanitarian mission participants to the communities but they eventually relented after negotiations.

On March 12, 2019, Karapatan, Rural Missionaries of the Philippines (RMP) and Kabataan Partylist filed complaints at the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) with regard to the red-tagging and terrorist-labelling of said organizations.