Time and again, human rights organizations have called for independent investigation of mounting cases of extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, arrests and filing of trumped-up cases, to name a few.
Edre Olalia, president of the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL), said the new resolution is not a magic wand that can erase the human rights violations and the accountability that those concerned will face.
Despite its shortcomings, the resolution remains “among the indications of the international community’s acknowledgement of and persisting scrutiny on the human rights crisis” under the Duterte administration.
“Whether they like it or not, the government is responsible for human rights. Not the UN Special Rapporteurs, the civil society. This is the responsibility that they all (States) have signed.”
The group said they “find it hollow and hypocritical for the Philippine government to feign at the 43rd UN Human Rights Council session that they are open to dialogue then proceeds in incorrigibly mouthing hate speech against human rights defenders legitimately seeking succor for vicious human rights violations.”
“We wish to reiterate that when high-level officials engage in speeches which disparages the work of human rights defenders, they undermine the value of their vital work, denigrate them in the eyes of the public and may put them at risk of threats, violence or other forms of harassment.” By ANNE MARXZE D. UMIL Bulatlat.com…
“I am here to seek justice for my son.”
The Ecumenical Voice for Peace and Human Rights in the Philippines, a delegation of human rights and church groups, would deliver oral interventions before the UNHRC and meet with Geneva-based state missions and UN mandate holders and international non-government organizations.