Activists, Human Rights Defenders and Political Dissenters in the Philippines Tagged in Duterte’s Terror List

Posted by Belarmino Dabalos Saguing

17.034.2017 Rome, Italy

In the prevailing atmosphere of violence against human rights defenders in the Philippines, the Department of Justice filed a petition on 23 February 2018 seeking to declare the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and the New People’s Army (NPA), the armed wing of the CPP, as terrorist organisations.

However, many of the individuals named in the petition are human rights defenders.  The petition was filed under Republic Act 9372 or the Human Security Act of 2007, otherwise known as the anti-terrorism law.

The petition follows President Rodrigo Duterte’s proclamation that the CPP and NPA are terrorist groups after the collapse of peace negotiations with the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) in December last year. In January 2018, he declared that he would pursue left-wing organisations, accusing them of being communist fronts. Within this context, scores of legitimate and peaceful human rights defenders have been labeled as terrorists, making them targets of violence and judicial harassment by associating them with ‘terrorist organisations’ and putting them in grave danger. Many of the human rights defenders are working on indigenous peoples’ rights, lands rights and women’s rights.

Indigenous human rights defenders and others working for the rights of indigenous people are named in the petition, including the current UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Victoria Tauli Corpuz. Ilocos environmental activist Sherwin De Vera is also tagged as a member of CPP as is Elisa Tita Lubi, who is a Karapatan National Executive Committee member and former interim regional coordinator of the Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development. Current and former chairpersons of numerous indigenous organisations are targeted as well as at least 10 indigenous leaders in Northern and Southern Mindanao.

This is the latest in a series of moves to delegitimise and undermine the work of human rights defenders in the Philippines by the Duterte administration. In August 2017, President Duterte called for the police to shoot human rights defenders for “obstructing justice” and for being a part of drug activity. He also threatened human rights organisations with criminal investigations for criticising his war on drugs.

The climate of impunity that prevails in the country, combined with the administration’s encouragement of extra-judicial killings has resulted in the serious deterioration in the situation for human rights defenders in the country. Front Line Defenders recorded the killing of 60 HRDs in the Philippines in 2017, an increase of nearly 100% on the previous year in its Annual Report on Human Rights Defenders at Risk in 2017. Human rights defenders have been regularly accused of violent crimes or of being members of the NPA.  Judicial harassment and criminalisation of human rights defenders remain common, with politicians and private actors using the criminal justice system to silence those who oppose their interests.

The use of the Human Security Act of 2007 to suppress legitimate dissent is a dangerous and underhanded move that definitely worsens the climate of impunity in the Philippines. We deplore this and other acts that intimidate, threaten, harass, target and criminalize persons and defenders who have been working for people’s rights and welfare.

We call on the Philippine government to:

• Cancel the baseless, malicious and arbitrary Justice Department petition and stop the criminalization of the work of activists, human rights defenders, and political dissenters through the practice of filing trumped-up criminal charges;
• Stop the labeling of members and leaders of progressive people’s organizations and patriots as “terrorists” both in national and international forums. Stop the threats, intimidation and harassment of human rights defenders;
• Repeal the Human Security Act of 2007 and all legislative, administrative, executive and judicial acts that violate human rights;
• Effectively address and immediately prosecute and punish acts of terrorism and human rights violations by agents of the State;
• End the counter-insurgency program Oplan Kapayapaan which directs and funds State security forces to threaten, harass, and arbitrarily and illegally arrest individuals tagged as “enemies of the State”;
• Immediately abolish the Inter-Agency Committee on Legal Action (IACLA), a body created by the PNP and the AFP, which further legitimizes and systematizes the political persecution and illegal arrest and detention of rights defenders and activists;
• Continue the peace talks with the National Democratic Front of the Philippines and comply with its obligations and commitments under the Comprehensive Agreement on the Respect of Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL),which includes the right to freedom of thought and expression, freedom of conscience, political beliefs and practices and the right not to be punished or held accountable for the exercise of these rights, and the right to free speech, press, association and assembly; and
• Adhere to and respect the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, and all major Human Rights instruments to which the Philippines is a party and signatory.

We wish to point out that the vision of indigenous peoples’ movements across the world have been to ensure implementation of democratic principles in their countries. We note with alarm that reprisals and attacks against indigenous rights defenders specifically in the Philippines. are increasing.