Rapporteur on Philippines visit: Gov’t was informed

MANILA, Philippines -  Calling it misinformation, United Nations special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions Agnes Callamard yesterday rejected the claim of Malacañang that the Philippine government was not informed of her visit to the country to attend a drug policy conference.

On April 28, Callamard said in a statement that the government was officially informed of her forthcoming visit to the country to take part in an academic conference on drug-related issues and “that the trip was not an official visit.”

On Friday, presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella scored Callamard for supposedly coming to the country unannounced, sending a signal that she was not interested in an objective assessment of the situation.

Abella cited a circumvention of protocols and raised the possibility of filing a complaint before the UN.

In her statement, however, Callamard said the Philippine government replied with letters on April 29 and May 1 acknowledging receipt of her letter and reacting to the information about her upcoming trip.

She said “exchanges on this matter by phone, mail and email between my mandate and the Permanent Mission of the Philippines continued” until May 4.

Callamard stressed she would not conduct an official assessment of the situation in the country as she is in the Philippines in an unofficial visit to attend a drug policy conference.

She said no report would be presented to the Human Rights Council. “It is normal routine for Special Rapporteurs to visit countries to attend different conferences or events, but such activities are not official country visits,” she said.

Foreign Affairs spokesman Robespierre Bolivar declined to comment on the matter, saying they have nothing to add to the Palace statement.

Committed to conduct visit

Callamard also disputed the government’s claim that she has not accepted the invitation of the Philippines to conduct an official visit, pointing out that she merely rejected the conditions set by President Duterte as these are against the terms of reference for special rapporteurs.

She said she is still committed to conduct an official visit and continue positive engagement with the government.

In an interview with reporters during the second day of the drug policy forum at the University of the Philippines yesterday, she also expressed her commitment to conduct an official visit.

“I am committed to continue my dialogue with the government and I am committed to undertake an official visit either by myself or with the special rapporteur on the right to health, because we both believe that a visit together would be more helpful, more useful, more effective,” she added.

“However, I am also ready to come by myself. I’m also waiting for the government to lift the three conditions that they’ve imposed on my visit,” she added.

Among the conditions set by the government were for her to engage Duterte in a public debate, allow the President to propound questions about the visit and that she swear under oath prior to the questioning.

Used to bashers

Asked for reaction about the negative response online with regard to her presence in the country, Callamard said she is already used to it.

However, she expressed disappointment and noted that the purpose of the forum is to conduct a dialogue about the drug policy.

“We are here in the spirit of dialogue. We are here in the spirit of opening avenues of communications and sharing information. I have been repeatedly told that you don’t have an alternative,” she said.

“Of course we have an alternative. This is what policy reform is all about; it is about presenting options, presenting the alternative for the Filipino society, the Filipino people, the Philippine government, to listen and to build upon. That is the purpose of the forum,” she added.

During her keynote speech on the first day of the forum, Callamard maintained that the conduct of war on drugs does not work.

“The general assembly of the world’s governments recognized explicitly that the ‘war on drugs’ – be it community based, national or global – does not work,” she said.

“Badly thought out, ill-conceived drug policies not only fail to address substantively drug dependency, drug-related criminality and the drug trade,” she added.

Asked about the learnings on the forum, she said there are alternatives that are based on a holistic approach which involve the health, justice and other policies.

“I have to say the strategy presentation (on Friday) from the chair of the narcotic group did give me hope because it is a balanced strategy that he offered. It is not in place. It is not implemented,” she said, referring to the drug policy presentation of Dangerous Drugs Board chair Benjamin Reyes.

“But I think the plan for the future that he wants to discuss with the government is a plan that he really based on the lessons all around the world, which is you need to have an integrated and holistic approach which places a lot of emphasis on health, a lot of emphasis on the justice sector, a lot of emphasis on preventive measures,” she added.

Reyes during his presentation said they would present to Duterte a revised Anti-Illegal Drug Strategy that would be aligned with the priorities of the administration.

He said the government is not only focused on enforcement, but also on the conduct of different programs.

CHR chief, Callamard meet

Commission on Human Rights (CHR) chairman Chito Gascon had an informal discussion with Callamard about the human rights situation in the Philippines over dinner on Friday night.

Earlier, Gascon said they would update Callamard on what the CHR has been doing and the “ways and means by which we could improve documentation of what’s happening.”

But Gascon noted that Callamard cannot use the information that she may get during her visit for purposes of coming up with an official report.

“Whatever information she receives will, of course, be useful for purposes of providing full information and context in the report that she needs to do,” he added.

Gascon previously urged the Duterte administration to take advantage of the presence of Callamard in the country to formalize the invite for her conduct an official visit.

UN needed

Some Catholic bishops also came to the defense of Callamard.

Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines-Episcopal Commission on the Laity (CBCP-ECL) Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo expressed hope that Callamard “would dig deeper” into the incidents of extrajudicial killings and “be brave in bringing out the report.”

Sorsogon Bishop Arturo Bastes said he was concerned that government officials and their supporters would continue to hide the fact that thousands of people were killed as a result of Duterte’s brutal war against illegal drugs. 

Bastes cited the death of Albuera, Leyte Mayor Rolando Espinosa Sr. who, according to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), was killed in a rubout while inside a jail.

Bastes said allies of Duterte are just covering up for the President. “They just want to protect Duterte from the world’s condemnation by all means, including telling lies. Anyway the truth will prevail at the end.”

He said the continuous denial that EJKs are being condoned and even encouraged will lead to more murders of Filipinos, especially the poor and defenseless. “And these murders are happening everyday,” the Sorsogon prelate said.

For his part, running priest Fr. Robert Reyes said Callamard should not allow Malacañang to intimidate her and prevent her from diligently doing her job. 

He also asked Malacañang not to interfere with Callamard’s investigation. “Do not be intimidated by official statements. Please investigate… We need your help. We need external intervention because here it’s so easy to hurt us, suppress us, intimidate us.”

Reyes said Filipinos need the intervention of good people. He hopes that the UN official would “come in full force” and help the people sustain their voice against EJKs. 

He is also hoping that Malacañang would not see the presence of Callamard in the country as a threat and intent to steal the power from government.

“I think the UN has good motives. They did not come here to steal power. We need you. We need you because Malacañang responds to foreign opinion… Here, the fight is lopsided because you are fighting the whole machinery of the government to intimidate and control, to marginalize, to stymie and even to stop opposition and criticism,” the priest added.

Face the music

If the Duterte administration has nothing to hide on the issue of EJKs, then it should have nothing to worry about with the visit of Callamard, Sens. Antonio Trillanes IV and Leila de Lima said.

Trillanes said that Malacañang’s reaction to the visit of Callamard, even though it was not an official one, betrays its guilt on the issue of EJKs.

“If they really believe that they have not done anything wrong then they should have no reason to be concerned,” Trillanes said over radio dwIZ.

However, Trillanes said that the truth is that killings are taking place in the country and Callamard’s presence in the country concerns the administration because of the negative reports that could fall into her hands.

According to Trillanes, what the administration should be worried about more is the case filed by Jude Sabio before the International Criminal Court (ICC) against Duterte for crimes against humanity.

Unlike the periodic reviews on human rights being conducted by the UN, which is partly based on perceptions, Trillanes said the case before the ICC would deal with facts and evidence, which would be very difficult to refute.

In a handwritten statement, De Lima took note of how the administration overreacted to the visit of Callamard even though it was only as a resource person at a drug policy forum organized by the Free Legal Assistance Group.

“True to form, the Duterte administration chose to react to the arrival of Ms. Agnes Callamard in an out-of-proportion and suspiciously defensive manner,” De Lima said.

According to De Lima, the President felt offended and undermined by the visit of Callamard and regardless of what she is actually doing here, his administration has seen fit to make life difficult for her.

“Here is a woman who wants to help our nation and our people by sharing her knowledge and insights with members of our community, including legal professionals and students, and this is how the Duterte administration responds, like they have something to hide. Like 9,000 victims of summary killings perhaps?” De Lima said.

“This is the attitude of a guilty conscience. A truly upstanding and brave leader would have officially invited her a long time ago, without all the absurdly onerous and unnecessary conditions,” she added. –With Pia Lee-Brago, Evelyn Macairan, Marvin Sy