Callamard: Special rapporteurs are independent experts, volunteers

MANILA, Philippines — United Nations special rapporteur on extrajudicial killings Agnes Callamard said that she and her colleagues are unfazed by the latest attack of President Rodrigo Duterte’s government.

In a statement released after Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque criticized her two fellow UN experts, Callamard vowed that they “will not be silenced by lies nor intimidated by anyone’s bully pulpit.”

She noted that when public officials choose fiction over fact, “you can be sure they have much to hide.”

Roque on Friday claimed that UN special rapporteurs Victoria Tauli-Corpuz and Cecilia Jimenez-Damary—both Filipinos—were using their position to “embarrass” the Duterte administration before the international community.

READ: Palace smears Filipino UN experts for 'embarrassing' Duterte admin

This remark came after Corpuz and Damary issued a statement that the ongoing militarization in Mindanao has “massive and potentially irreversible” impact on the human rights of some Lumads.

“Thousands of Lumads have already been forcibly displaced by the conflict and have seen their houses and livelihoods destroyed. We fear the situation could deteriorate further if the extension of martial law until the end of 2018 results in even greater militarization,” the UN experts said.

READ: UN warns Philippines over 'massive' impact of military ops on Lumads in Mindanao

Callamard to Roque: We are appointed, not elected

Roque said that the pair should “be more circumspect on their statements,” saying their remarks “appeared to be very partisan.”

The presidential spokesperson noted that Corpuz and Damary were elected to their post during the Aquino administration.

But Callamard corrected him, saying that special rapporteurs are appointed by the UN Human Rights Council as independent experts on the basis of their “proven expertise and experience.”

“We are not United Nations staff. We are volunteers who serve in our personal capacity and receive no remuneration. We do not take on our roles at the ‘behest’ of any government,” she said.

The special rapporteur added: “We take on our roles with a pledge to uphold independence, efficiency, competence and integrity and to act with probity, impartiality, honesty and in good faith.”

She lauded Corpuz and Damary for implementing their mandates “independently, impartially, accurately and courageously.”

Callamard has been the subject of Duterte’s ire for criticizing the deaths linked with the government’s bloody war on drugs.

READ: Duterte warns Callamard: If you investigate me, I'll slap you