UN welcomes PH court ruling on special rapporteur
Published Aug 21, 2018 04:22 pm
By Roy Mabasa
United Nations human rights experts have welcomed a Philippine court ruling declaring UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples Victoria Tauli-Corpuz as “non-party to a recent government petition tagging the New People’s Party (NPA) and the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) as terrorist organizations.
UN logo (Reuters | Manila Bulletin)
In a statement issued on Monday, the UN human rights experts also urged the Philippine government to respect not only the judicial order but to also remove all human rights defenders included in the “terrorist” list to create an environment that would allow them to continue their legitimate work of defending rights without reprisal or fear.
On July 27, a regional trial court in Manila rendered a decision in relation to a petition filed by the Department of Justice in February 2018, accusing more than 600 individuals as terrorists and alleged members of the CPP-NPA. Tauli-Corpuz was among those named in the list.
“While we welcome this decision, we are still deeply concerned about the continued naming of many others, including human rights defenders, in the petition, as this tags them as terrorists,” said the UN experts.
The UN experts noted that since the tagging, “there has been a global outcry against the so-called ‘terrorist’ list.”
“The inclusion of Ms. Tauli-Corpuz was considered as an act of retaliation for public comments she had made about the Philippines in her mandate as Special Rapporteur, the experts said.
Dainius Pūras, chair of the Coordination Committee of Special Procedures, said such an unacceptable attack against a UN mandate holder like Tauli-Corpuz is a “very serious cause for concern.”
“Over the years, member States of the Human Rights Council have nominated independent experts to assess the situation of human rights around the world. These member States, therefore, have a corresponding responsibility to secure and respect the authority and legitimacy of the UN experts and ensure that they can fulfill their mandates in a safe and unimpeded manner, without any intimidation," Pūras stressed.
Lending his voice to the call, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders Michel Forst said, “The inclusion of human rights defenders, amongst them indigenous peoples, on the government list amounts to intimidation and harassment of people who are peacefully defending their rights.”
“Removing a few high-profile names from the list will not make us stop drawing attention to the situation of the others, whose physical safety and integrity is still under immense pressure,” Forst added.
UN logo (Reuters | Manila Bulletin)
In a statement issued on Monday, the UN human rights experts also urged the Philippine government to respect not only the judicial order but to also remove all human rights defenders included in the “terrorist” list to create an environment that would allow them to continue their legitimate work of defending rights without reprisal or fear.
On July 27, a regional trial court in Manila rendered a decision in relation to a petition filed by the Department of Justice in February 2018, accusing more than 600 individuals as terrorists and alleged members of the CPP-NPA. Tauli-Corpuz was among those named in the list.
“While we welcome this decision, we are still deeply concerned about the continued naming of many others, including human rights defenders, in the petition, as this tags them as terrorists,” said the UN experts.
The UN experts noted that since the tagging, “there has been a global outcry against the so-called ‘terrorist’ list.”
“The inclusion of Ms. Tauli-Corpuz was considered as an act of retaliation for public comments she had made about the Philippines in her mandate as Special Rapporteur, the experts said.
Dainius Pūras, chair of the Coordination Committee of Special Procedures, said such an unacceptable attack against a UN mandate holder like Tauli-Corpuz is a “very serious cause for concern.”
“Over the years, member States of the Human Rights Council have nominated independent experts to assess the situation of human rights around the world. These member States, therefore, have a corresponding responsibility to secure and respect the authority and legitimacy of the UN experts and ensure that they can fulfill their mandates in a safe and unimpeded manner, without any intimidation," Pūras stressed.
Lending his voice to the call, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders Michel Forst said, “The inclusion of human rights defenders, amongst them indigenous peoples, on the government list amounts to intimidation and harassment of people who are peacefully defending their rights.”
“Removing a few high-profile names from the list will not make us stop drawing attention to the situation of the others, whose physical safety and integrity is still under immense pressure,” Forst added.