MANILA, Philippines — Several religious organizations from across the world expressed concern on the “deteriorating” situation of human rights and civil liberties in the Philippines as they called on the United Nations Human Rights Council to investigate rights abuses in the country.
In a statement Thursday, international church groups condemned the “disturbing proliferation of killings, human rights violations and attacks on civil liberties in the Philippines.”
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“The proliferation of extrajudicial killings, including the killings of thousands of people under a so-called ‘war on drugs,’ is reprehensible. We are concerned that a general climate of impunity has been synergized with the Philippine president’s unabashed incitement to violence and regular calls for state forces to punish legitimate dissent by the citizenry,” the organizations said.
Palace: Mechanisms in place against abuse
The Palace has rejected allegations of extrajudicial killings, saying these are not state-sponsored nor state policy.
"Internal accountability mechanisms within our law enforcement agencies, such as the Philippine National Police, are in place to ensure that wrongful actions by law enforcers are addressed," state-run Philippine News Agency quoted Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar as saying in response to a a similar claim by rights watchdog Human Rights Watch.
"We remain in cognizance of our international and humanitarian obligations as we continue to promote all Filipinos’ inherent freedoms and human rights throughout our administration," Andanar also said after HRW said, citing government data, that killings went up by 50% during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Police data as of the end of July 2020 showed that 5,810 people have been killed during anti-drug operations since mid-2016. But rights watchdogs provide a larger figure, estimating that approximately 27,000 individuals had been killed, with casualties from ‘vigilante’ killings and executions from what were described as resistance to police arrest.
At least 300 political killings have also been documented since President Rodrigo Duterte assumed power, according to rights group Karapatan.
“We call for an end to these killings. We stand with the Filipino citizenry in denouncing state impunity and the wanton display of violence and brutality by state forces,” the church groups said.
'Red-tagging' and the anti-terrorism law
The organizations also condemned the attacks and threats against government critics, people’s organizations, journalists, indigenous peoples and human rights defenders, and the “red-tagging” of activists.
They likewise raised alarm on the passage of the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020, which they feared would be used to “impinge on the exercise of free speech, thought, religious belief and association, as well as other civil and political rights.”
“Therefore, in continuation of our historic commitment as faith-based bodies within the wider ecumenical community worldwide to peace, justice and the integrity of creation, we hereby join to keep watch and bear witness to the hopes and struggles of the Filipino people,” they said
The church groups said they support the recommendation to establish an on-the-ground independent, impartial investigation into alleged human rights violations in the Philippines.
The statement from religious organizations comes a day before the joint informal meeting initiated by Iceland and the Philippines in Geneva. The 45th session of the UN Human Rights Council will run until October 6.
The Human Rights Council, made up of 47 UN member states, is an inter-governmental body within the UN system responsible for addressing situations of human rights violations and making recommendations on them.
In the council’s 44th session last June, UN rights chief Michelle Bachelet said the government’s war on drugs and incitement to violence from the country’s top leaders have led to grave human rights violations, including “widespread and systematic” extrajudicial killings.
Bachelet said the UN Human Rights Council should consider options for international accountability measures should there be an absence of clear outcomes from domestic mechanisms.
Among the signatories of the statement are the General Board of Global Ministries-The United Methodist Church, Global Ministries of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and United Church of Christ, and National Council of Churches in Korea.