In a letter of
allegation submitted to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial/Summary or
Arbitrary Executions Ms. Agnes Callamard yesterday, April 10, 2017, Karapatan
submitted documentation on forty-seven (47) victims of extrajudicial killings
in the Philippines under the Duterte administration, in line with the
continuing counter-insurgency program of the government.
In a letter of
allegation submitted to the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial/Summary or
Arbitrary Executions Ms. Agnes Callamard yesterday, April 10, 2017, Karapatan
submitted documentation on forty-seven (47) victims of extrajudicial killings
in the Philippines under the Duterte administration, in line with the
continuing counter-insurgency program of the government.
The said cases were
submitted a month before May 8, 2017, the 3rd cycle of the
Universal Periodic Review on the Philippines at the UN Human Rights Council, a
process whereby the human rights record of a country will be examined by other
State. The period under review covers the last four years of the Aquino
administration and the first months of the Duterte government. Karapatan also
submitted similar complaints during the Arroyo and Aquino administrations.
The said cases were submitted a month before May 8,
2017, the 3rd cycle of the Universal Periodic Review on the
Philippines at the UN Human Rights Council, a process whereby the human rights
record of a country will be examined by other State. The period under review
covers the last four years of the Aquino administration and the first months of
the Duterte government. Karapatan also submitted similar complaints during the
Arroyo and Aquino administrations.
“The victims of killings
are peasants, indigenous peoples and workers; many faced harassment and
villification by the military because of their advocacy and actions to defend
people’s rights and are thus considered as human rights defenders,” said
Cristina Palabay, Karapatan Secretary General, in her letter to Callamard.
Karapatan urged Callamard to consider, investigate, make recommendations and
take any appropriate actions on the cases.
“Despite the 2008 report
to the United Nations Human Rights Council on the Philippines by your
predecessor, Prof. Philip Alston, strong recommendations on extrajudicial
killings perpetrated as part of counter-insurgency programs, was unheeded both
by the Arroyo and Aquino governments. Throughout both administrations,
political killings of peasants, indigenous peoples, Moro, workers, women and
youth continued and intensified. Under Arroyo, Karapatan documented at least
1,206 individual victims of extrajudicial killing. Under Aquino, there were 334
victims of extrajudicial killing,” Palabay explained.
Karapatan said that
“under Duterte, from July 2016 to March 31, 2017, a total of 47 cases of
political killings have been documented by Karapatan.”
“These killings are all
in the context of the counter-insurgency programs implemented from one regime
to another that supposedly seek to end the armed rebellion of revolutionary
movements in the Philippines. From Arroyo’s Oplan Bantay Laya, Aquino’s Oplan
Bayanihan and to the current Oplan Kapayapaan of Duterte, these
counter-insurgency programs have victimized thousands of Filipinos, including struggling
communities, tagged as “enemies of the State,” she further stated.
Karapatan expressed hope
“that Callamard’s findings about the gravity of political killings in the
Philippines will convince the Duterte government to completely junk counterinsurgency
programs of which EJKs are a major aspect, to issue strong warnings to and
prosecute EJK perpetrators, and continue to pursue his efforts at attaining
just and lasting peace with the NDFP and the Moro liberation movements.”
Palabay said they are
working with Rise Up, a campaign network of faith-based institutions and
people’s organizations, in preparing similar complaints that will be filed at
the UN on cases of extrajudicial killings in line with the Duterte
administration’s war on drugs.
Karapatan is also in the
process of preparing documentation on other cases of human rights violations
such as illegal arrest and detention of civilians and activists, forcible
evacuation and bombing of communities, which will be forwarded to relevant
mandate holders. The organization also co-convenes the
Philippine UPR Watch, a network of faith-based and human rights
organizations that engages in the UPR process which will send a delegation of
human rights defenders to the UPR this May.
*For full copy of letter, see: https://www.karapatan.org/Letter+to+UNSR+EJK
Information on the submitted cases are available upon request.