DAVAO CITY – The Philippine government should promptly and impartially investigate the recent spate of killings of leftist activists, Human Rights Watch said.
It said from June 15 to 17, 2019, unidentified gunmen fatally shot four members of leftist organizations. And on June 2, a gunman on a motorbike fatally shot Dennis Sequena, a labor organizer from Partido Manggagawa (Workers’ Party), as he met with workers in Cavite province, near Manila.
Human Rights Watch said with the session of the United Nations Human Rights Council began on June 24 in Geneva, UN member states should ensure an international investigation into the deteriorating human rights situation in the Philippines, including the thousands of unlawful killings under the Duterte administration’s “war on drugs,” the killing of activists, and other serious human rights violations, it added.
“The recent killings underscore that attacks on leftist activists is a serious human rights problem in the Philippines that has never gone away. The Philippine authorities should fully investigate these killings and bring those responsible to justice,” said Carlos Conde, Philippines researcher at Human Rights Watch.
On June 17, unidentified gunmen shot dead Neptali Morada in Naga City in Camarines Sur province. Morada, 40, was affiliated with Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (or Bayan), an alliance of left-wing organization and was a former staff member of a local politician. A day earlier, gunmen on motorbikes shot Nonoy Palma, 57, a member of the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (Peasant Movement of the Philippines), in Bukidnon province.
On June 15, gunmen killed Ryan Hubilla, 22, and Nelly Bagasala, 69, volunteers for the human rights group Karapatan in Sorsogon province. Local groups confirmed for Human Rights Watch a number of details about the attacks.
In previous years, Human Rights Watch documented the killing of numerous leftist activists, peasant leaders, and labor organizers. Many of these killings occurred in the context of the government’s 50-year-old armed conflict with a communist insurgency. Leaders of indigenous peoples, religious workers, and environmentalists have also been targeted. Human Rights Watch and other rights groups have linked many of these killings to alleged members of the military, police, or security force-backed militias.
Very few of the killings of activists over the years have been seriously investigated, and hardly any have resulted in convictions. Often, the military and police accuse the victims of being either members or sympathizers of the Communist Party of the Philippines or its armed wing, the New People’s Army.
Government officials have recently accused leftist groups that operate openly and legally of being communists, a label that can place their members at grave risk. Journalists and lawyers’ groups critical of the Duterte administration have also been subjected to this “red-tagging.”
The “drug war” killings – which have continued unabated with near zero accountability – require a long overdue international investigation, and the attacks on leftist activists and other serious human rights abuses, including attacks against human rights defenders and civil society, should also be urgently scrutinized, Human Rights Watch said.
On June 18, authorities said more than 6,600 people have been killed in the past three years during what they call legitimate police operations against drug suspects.
However, nongovernmental groups as well as the national Commission on Human Rights estimate that the death toll is several times higher. “UN member states should not let another session of the Human Rights Council go by without adopting measures that will put serious human rights violations in the Philippines under scrutiny. It’s clear that Duterte’s administration will not credibly investigate abuses in the ‘drug war’ and against activists on their own,” Conde said. (Mindanao Examiner)
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