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In the Philippines, victims of rights violations face dead ends as they turn to the Office of the Ombudsman for justice and redress.
Political prisoner Reina Mae Nasino visited her late daughter, baby River Emmanuelle’s grave after three years of incarceration on charges that were found to have failed to establish strong footing.
The most recent Land and Rights Watch Report shows that killings remain the most common human rights violation (HRV) with 51 incidents and 74 victims. This is followed by arrests, detention and legal persecution, with 32 incidents and 477 victims. Worth noting is that almost half or 14 of those arrested or legally persecuted in cases linked to land conflicts are women.
Kapatid compared the bail amount to the P300,000 ($5,371.50) bail posted by former first lady Imelda Marcos after she was convicted by the Sandiganbayan for using her government position to maintain Swiss bank accounts while her husband was in office.
A local court granted the bail petition of three political prisoners, citing "failure of the prosecution to prove that the evidence of guilt against all accused is strong."
"Despite these sordid figures, there has been zero justice for the victims of extrajudicial killings. The culture of impunity continues to rear its ugly head."
Ericson's friends said he could have been in a different field or in the mainstream, working as a playwright or a screenwriter and living a comfortable life. But in the end, they said, he chose and embraced life together with the people and fighting together with them in their struggle.
The daughter of one of the missing says she's happy with Amparo but court intervention does not lessen anguish, fear.
“State security forces continue to perpetrate with impunity extrajudicial killings, torture, forced disappearances, illegal arrests, and detention based on trumped-up charges."
“This libel case is an attack on truth and those who wield it to champion peoples' political rights.”
The National Democratic Front in Negros (NDF-Negros) said peace consultant and poet Ericson Acosta and peasant organizer Joseph Jimenez were stabbed and hacked, belying claims of the military that the two died during gun fight in Kabankalan City last Nov. 30.
NDF-Negros spokesperson Bayani Obrero said in a statement that Acosta and a companion were captured alive at around two o’clock in the morning of November 30 but were announced as casualties in a “fake encounter” a few hours later.
November 29 is international women human rights defenders’ day. In the Philippines, several women human rights defenders are being attacked for defending and promoting human rights.
The NUPL has recorded a total of 262 work-related attacks in the past 15 years, including that of 86 lawyers, judges and prosecutors. Five of whom were members of the NUPL.
Residents of Maisan in Sampaloc, Manila find the demolition unjust as negotiation for their relocation is ongoing with the city government of Manila.
"What he said is not what’s happening in our country. Killings and human rights violations continue. There is still no justice for our loved ones."
“The government is using the UN joint program, they say they are complying with the HRC resolution. We don’t want the international community to depend only on that because that is only a window dressing of the Philippine government."
Human rights workers and the relatives of detained development worker Ma. Salome “Sally” Ujano have renewed their calls for her release, nearly a year since she was arrested and detained based on trumped-up cases.
Three university students are facing possible expulsion after holding a protest action commemorating the 50th year since the imposition of Martial Law by the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos Sr.
The UNHRC said they are concerned at the “reports of increased crackdowns, including in the context of the government’s counter-terrorism and anti-illegal drug operations, on human rights defenders, activists and other civil society actors to discourage them from carrying out their legitimate activities.”
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