Month: September 2022

Groups to new CHR chair: uphold human rights, remain independent

“Given the example set by the late CHR Chair Chito Gascon, Atty. Palpal-latoc has big shoes to fill. But we hope to see the same exacting standards of integrity, independence, probity, steadfastness as well as openness and support for victims of human rights violations that are demanded of him and the entire commission especially amid a pervasive climate of impunity.”

ICC finds no basis on PH govt’s arguments, reiterates probe on drug-related killings

“The GovPH argues that its criminal justice system generally functions well, and that certain administrative and other mechanisms may or can result in criminal proceedings. However, nothing in the observations nor in the hundreds of pages of associated annexes substantiates that criminal proceedings actually have been or are being conducted in anything more than a small number of cases.”

‘Manila court decision, a win for civil liberties’

“This ‘terrorist’ proscription of the revolutionary movement of the the CPP-NPA, used by past and present governments to criminalize dissent, has created a political climate favorable to illegal arrests, extra-judicial killings and various forms of human rights violations perpetrated by elements of the state against unarmed activists and even innocent civilians.”

Manila court junks petition to declare communist groups as terrorists

“It is important to underscore how the decision concluded that the CPP and NPA are not terrorists, rather, are waging armed resistance with clear political aims and directs its attacks, not against civilians, but against agents of the reactionary state represented by the government of the Republic of the Philippines.”