Impunity over 50 years and long-evaded justice

Come October, the Philippine government will undergo the fifth periodic review on its compliance with the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR). It will be done during the 51st session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC), on Sept. 12-Oct. 7.

As part of the process, the UN Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights (OHCHR) has reported on the progress/results in the implementation of a UN Joint Program (UNJP) with the Philippine government on technical cooperation and capacity-building for the promotion and protection of human rights in the country.

Mandated by UNHRC Resolution 45/33, adopted on Oct. 7, 2020, the UNJP was signed in Manila on July 22 last year. It provides for technical assistance and capacity-building for reforms in six areas: domestic investigation and accountability measures; data gathering on alleged police violations; establishment of a national mechanism for reporting and follow-up; civic space and engagement with civil society and the Commission on Human Rights (CHR); counter-terrorism legislation and human rights-based approaches to drug control.

The results don’t look good.

“The continued reports of harassments, threats, arrests, attacks, red-tagging against civil society actors, as well as continued drug-related killings by police in the past two years, raise serious ongoing concerns and undermine the UNJP objectives,” warned the OHCHR.

Moreover, it noted that while the Philippine government took some initiatives to push accountability for human rights violations, “access to justice for the victims remained very limited.” Despite efforts to address some cases, “institutional and structural shortcomings in law enforcement and the judiciary remained.” While some cases of extrajudicial killings during the Duterte regime’s war on drugs have been investigated, it said, these have so far not resulted in convictions and redress for victims.

Taking note of the Anti-Terrorism Act, the OHCHR and special-procedure mandate holders (experts better known as UN special rapporteurs) remain concerned, the report said, that it does not fully conform with international standards and its implementation could result in human rights violations.

Per Philippine government information, as of June 2021, there were 29 ATA-related cases filed in courts, three of which had been dismissed. As of July 2022, there were no known convictions in the remaining cases.

From Karapatan and Tanggol Bayi, an association of women human rights defenders, came an “alternative submission” for the periodic review. They were even more forthright, stating that the Philippine human rights situation has “spiraled into a crisis.” All administrations starting from the Marcos martial law dictatorship have allowed violations to go unchecked, they said, blocking the human rights community’s efforts to attain justice.

Submitted to the UNHRC on Sept. 12, the alternative report covered human rights issues during the administrations of Benigno S. Aquino III, Rodrigo R. Duterte and the first months of Marcos Jr. in Malacañang. It provided documentation on “gross violations” of the right to life and civil liberties, the deepening, pervasive climate of impunity and the lack of effective domestic mechanisms for redress and accountability. Further, it expressed concern over “closing civic and democratic spaces” and the failure to perform the state’s obligations to “core” human rights instruments, including the ICCPR.

Marcos Jr.’s recent defense of his father’s martial law rule, Karapatan and Tanggol Bayi pointed out, “glosses over the family’s rapacious intent to monopolize political power and prolong their rule by suppressing political dissent and pocketing billions from the nation’s coffers.”

The current presidency, the report surmised, “seeks to erase all the crimes of the Marcoses against the Filipino people (and) to continue the draconian and repressive policies of the Duterte administration, wielding the Anti-Terrorism Act and other repressive policies against those who uphold and defend human and people’s rights.”

Marcos Jr. doesn’t seem intent on immediately prosecuting those involved in gross HRVs during the Duterte administration, observed Cristina Palabay, Karapatan secretary general. “And with the domestic remedies remaining largely unresponsive in pursuing accountability, the climate of impunity remains pervasive,” she stressed.

Karapatan again urged the international human rights community and the UNHRC to undertake decisive steps for an independent investigation into the Philippine situation, emphasizing that Council members need to comprehensively evaluate how the people’s civil and political rights have been grossly violated through the years after the last review.

Meantime, the OHCHR report put forward several recommendations to the Philippine government. Among them are the following:

• Conduct prompt, impartial, thorough, transparent investigations into all killings and alleged violations of international HR law and humanitarian law, so as to prosecute violators and provide remedies to the victims and their families;

• Ensure that Administrative Order 35 interagency mechanism is adequately resourced and has investigative capacity to conduct its tasks independently and impartially, with meaningful participation of the CHR, the victims’ families and civil society organizations;

• Ensure victim-centered approaches, including access to reparation, legal and psychological support and effective protection from reprisals; address the specific needs of children affected by the anti-illegal drug campaign, including children in conflict with the law;

• Strengthen cooperation among the PNP, CHR, DOJ Interagency Review Panel and civil society organizations to facilitate comprehensive investigations; revise administrative and executive orders that prevent disclosure of relevant information to bodies mandated to investigate HRVs;

• Ensure that quotas or number of arrests for drug-related offenses are removed and not used as indicator of successful law enforcement activity;

• Ensure continued independence of the CHR, including through transparent and consultative appointment process for the new Commissioners, in compliance with the Paris Principles;

• Prevent and respond to human rights violations and abuses against human rights defenders (HRDs); end incitement to violence and threatening rhetoric against the latter as well as against other critics of the government, offline and online (e.g. red-tagging) and ensure accountability for any acts of intimidation and reprisal;

• Drop charges and sanctions that target the peaceful and legitimate work of HRDs and review the cases of HRDs who are detained, so they may be released.

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