CHR backs call to protect Phl rights defenders

The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) yesterday echoed the call of an independent expert of the United Nations to protect human rights defenders in the Philippines.

CHR spokesperson Jacqueline de Guia agreed with the assessment of UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders Michel Forst that rights advocates in the Philippines are under threat.

“Human rights defenders all over the world do face threats. Even here in the Philippines, advocates are also vilified,” De Guia said.

“We saw that at the start of the Maguindanao massacre and that same threat continues up until now, especially with the red tagging and threats faced by the different human rights defenders, journalists, civil society organizations, students, (members of the) academe and even the CHR,” she added.

De Guia said human rights defenders must not be looked upon negatively but rather as supporters of the government in the fulfillment of their human rights obligations.

“We call on the government, in the performance of their duty, to protect everyone, that they must also safeguard the rights of human rights defenders,” the CHR official said.

In a report released on Wednesday, Forst called on the Philippine government to immediately end all forms of violations against human rights defenders, including extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances. He noted instances of human rights violations, including supposed efforts of some government officials to defame human rights defenders critical of the Duterte administration.

“(The special rapporteur) urges the government to cease immediately the public stigmatization of human rights defenders, which can incite perpetrators to act against them, and instead to publicly recognize the legitimacy and importance of their work,” the report read.

“The state should develop protection mechanisms that protect and support human rights defenders. In doing so, the government should recognize the specific needs and circumstances of groups of defenders facing high risks, such as women human rights defenders, indigenous human rights defenders, land and environmental rights defenders and journalists,” it added.

He also recommended support for the CHR, including the provision of specific resources dedicated to the security and protection of human rights defenders.