UN rapid response team should probe into killings of activists — rights group
MANILA, Philippines — The United Nations human rights office should deploy a “rapid response unit” to investigate the “Bloody Sunday” police raids that resulted in the killing of nine activists, a human rights group said.
Eight men and one woman were killed as police and military personnel executed search warrants before dawn Sunday in Batangas, Cavite, Laguna and Rizal provinces. Authorities also arrested six others during raids.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights should send a rapid response unit to probe into the recent spate of activist killings, the Human Rights Watch said. The UN human rights office is mandated to send such units to respond to humanitarian and human rights crises.
The UN human rights office, in a statement Tuesday, said it is “appalled by the apparently arbitrary killing of nine activists.”
“We are deeply worried that these latest killings indicate an escalation in violence, intimidation, harassment and ‘red-tagging’ of human rights defenders,” the statement read.
The statement did not mention any move to launch an investigation, but it urged security forces to take urgent measures to prevent the use of excessive force during law enforcement operations. It also called on the government to refrain from rhetoric that may lead to violations.
HRW also stressed the killings highlight the need for international action to address the worsening human rights situation in the Philippines.
“UN member states should see through this deadly deception and press for international action that would hold the Duterte administration to account,” said Phil Robertson, HRW deputy Asia director.
“The Philippine government’s ‘dirty war’ against political activists needs to stop. Concerned governments should support meaningful efforts to hold the Duterte government to account for grave human rights violations,” he added.
Philippine Mission to UN ‘appalled’ at rights office
The Permanent Mission of the Philippines to UN in Geneva criticized the UN human rights office over its comments about the “Bloody Sunday” raids.
“We are appalled at OHCHR prejudging legitimate police operations on Sunday in the Philippines vs persons possessing dangerous firearms and explosive devices. We regret this overreach of OHCHR’s mandate—clearly uninformed of facts on the ground,” it said on Twitter.
It even asked the UN rights office to “correct hasty opinions favoring violators of the law and instead support efforts to uphold law and order.”
We are appalled at #OHCHR prejudging legitimate police operations on Sunday in the #Philippines vs persons possessing dangerous firearms and explosive devices. We regret this overreach of OHCHR’s mandate - clearly uninformed of facts on the ground.@DFAPHL @UNHumanRights
— Philippine Mission UN Geneva (@PHinGeneva) March 9, 2021
Rights groups said that similar with past operations, police will secure search warrants from courts that have become “factories,” implement them in wee hours of the morning and arrest activists. In more alarming cases, such as the ‘Bloody Sunday’ raids, activists were killed.
The Philippine government told the UN rights office that the operation was part of its counter-insurgency campaign against the New People’s Army. The nine killed were all activists or members of left-leaning organizations, which state forces repeatedly accuse of being fronts for communist rebels.
The police claimed the killings were caused by activists shooting at them, forcing them to return fire in self-defense. This narrative is no different from the claim of ‘nanlaban’ (fought back) over deaths of drug suspects during police operations.
A report of UN human rights chief Michelle Bachelet in June 2020 documents a serious lack of due process in police operations, and near-total impunity for the use of lethal force by security forces.
The deaths came two days after President Rodrigo Duterte told security forces they could kill communist rebels and “ignore human rights.” — with reports from Kristine Joy Patag and Franco Luna
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