2 UN reps to probe abuses, rights violations in Phl

MANILA, Philippines - Two United Nations special rapporteurs have expressed their intention to visit the Philippines to conduct an independent probe on the human rights situation in the country.

Delegates of the Ecumenical Voice for Peace and Human Rights (EcuVoice) to the 26th UN Human Rights Council sessions said that  UN Special  Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons Dr. Chaloka Beyani is slated to conduct his official visit this year.

Meanwhile, UN Special  Rapporteur  on the independence of judges and lawyers Gabriela Knaul has recently submitted her request to visit the country, the group said.

EcuVoice delegates also called on the independent experts to look into reports of forced evacuations due to military operations, forced evictions, the continuing displacement of supertyphoon Yolanda victims, and the attacks against human rights lawyers in the Philippines.

Representatives of EcuVoice informed Beyani of the forcible evacuations caused by military operations in a growing number of areas in the country, especially in Mindanao, where 60 percent of government troops are now deployed.

"Peasant communities and indigenous tribes are driven away from their homes by extractive operations, tourism, and infrastructure projects such as dams. The plight of poverty-stricken indigenous communities in Talaingod, Davao del Norte and many other parts of Mindanao is exacerbated as big foreign and domestic mining companies encroach on their lands and ancestral domains,"Karapatan secretary general Cristina Palabay told Beyani.

Meanwhile, lawyer Edre Olalia, secretary general of the National Union of Peoples' Lawyers (NUPL), updated Knaul on the escalating tactics employed to jeopardize, not just the independence of lawyers and judges, but their very lives and personal security, particularly human rights lawyers. 

He pointed out the continuing killings of lawyers and judges as well as various attacks like labelling, surveillance, hacking of phones and emails, and filing of nuisance charges against rights lawyers. 

"The human rights lawyers in the frontline are also under attack and immediate steps must be taken by the international community on top of domestic efforts before things even get worse," Olalia said. 

A UN mandate holder like Special Rapporteurs can only conduct a country visit upon formal invitation by the State on an official request.

The Philippine government previously announced during the country’s Universal Periodic Review in 2012 that it will officially invite Beyani, but the official visit has not materialized since then.

The former special rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers and judges first requested to visit the Philippines in 2006, and has since reiterated this request. The Philippine government, however, has not issued an invitation.