ADVERTISEMENT
Clamor said the attempts to discredit human rights defenders and progressive organisations aim to prevent them from pursuing justice for the victims of rights violations.
"The elderly and the sick are arrested on trumped-up charges while the convicted rapists are freed."
“The current news splash about the fake Inopacan murder charge is intended by the Duterte regime to draw away public attention from the scandalous release of 2,000 criminals convicted of drug trading, murder, rape and other heinous crimes,” Sison said.
Political prisoner Rachel Mariano freed after charges against her were dismissed by the court.
The NUJP reminded state security forces forces that “ their mandate is to preserve and protect democracy, along with all the rights and freedoms that go with it, not stifle.”
The island of Negros has long been militarized supposedly to obliterate the revolutionary group Communist Party of the Philippines and its armed wing, the New People’s Army.
“No peace can come out of violence against innocent lives."
The living conditions in the Negros island have been – time and again – a glaring example of government’s failure to implement genuine agrarian reform.
“The problem is that the framework of this task force [to end communist insurgency] provides no distinction between combatants and non-combatants, or activists belonging to organizations categorized as legal fronts [of the Communist Party of the Philippines].”
Many used sarcasm and wit to what they find as ridiculous claim of Reano.
In a statement, the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL) called this proposal as an “excavation of a jurassic idea which has the effect of curtailing freedom of association and political beliefs which are in fact crucial ingredients for democracy to flourish.”
"State forces in Mindanao are intensifying attacks against civilians in Northern Mindanao as Martial Law continues to be in place in the whole island."
According to the report, Lacay, with his companion Renard Burgos, was riding a motorcycle on their way to the public market when two uniformed soldiers hailed them and asked for a ride. That was when the soldiers allegedly fired at the victim.
“They would call us, three or four at a time, sometimes to the barangay hall, sometimes to the municipal hall. The interrogations would start from 10 a.m. and end 10 p.m., no breaks."
At least 40 lawyers have been killed under President Duterte alone according to the NUPL.
For weeks before the shooting, elements of the 54th IB frequented Lee's residence as well as the offices of IPM and Justice and Peace Advocates of Ifugao, of which Lee is also a member.
“The number of violent attacks against Christian human rights defender has alarmingly increased in the three years of President Rodrigo Duterte’s government. We hold him responsible for the escalating hostile acts being committed against all human rights defenders from civil society and people’s organizations and the church community.”
“The series of attacks threaten to undermine the country’s peace and order situation, the State’s failure to identify and punish the perpetrators further breeds a culture of impunity and violence."
“I am from Mindanao, the first island where Martial Law was implemented. All the killings that is happening in Negros right now, also happened in Mindanao last 2017."
“Anyone who affords legal remedies such as writs of amparo and habeas data will now be subjected to reprisals like this. We deem the accusations by NSA Esperon (not only) as baseless and malicious but also a serious attack on the basic right to access legal mechanisms.”
A community of readers and supporters that help us sustain our operations through microdonations for as low as $1.