A RIGHTS group on Friday branded the administration’s petition to have more than 600 people tagged as terrorists a “virtual government hit list” as the UN human rights chief said President Rodrigo Duterte was in need of “psychiatric evaluation.”
“The Philippine government is putting at grave risk more than 600 people—among them a United Nations human rights expert and dozens of leftist activists—by labeling them as members of the Communist Party of the Philippines and its armed wing, the New People’s Army (NPA),” said Carlos Conde, head of the Asia division of Human Rights Watch.
“The Justice Department petition is a virtual government hit list,” he said.
“There’s a long history in the Philippines of the state security forces and pro-government militias assassinating people labeled as NPA members or supporters,” he added.
The local human rights group Karapatan also denounced the Justice Department petition, calling it a move “to harass, target and criminalize persons in progressive organizations.”
The group’s secretary-general Tinay Palabay said the petition was apparently filed “to sow fear and panic among Duterte’s detractors, subjectively prepare the public for more intense political repression, and be the front act of a crackdown against the dictator wannabe’s critics.”
UN rights officials said they were shocked and concerned over the inclusion of UN special rapporteur for the rights of indigenous people Victoria Tauli-Corpuz.
In a statement on Thursday, March 8, UN special rapporteurs Michel Forst and Catalina Devandas Aguilar called the move as “an act of retaliation” over Corpuz’s statements on issues concerning indigenous peoples.
“We are shocked that the special rapporteur is being targeted because of her work defending the rights of indigenous peoples,” they said.
“The attack against the special rapporteur is taking place in the context of widespread extrajudicial executions and ongoing attacks against voices who are critical of the current government, including human rights defenders,” they added.
UN rights chief Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein said Manila’s actions against UN officials “make one believe that the president of the Philippines needs to submit himself to some sort of psychiatric evaluation.”
Zeid and other UN rights officials have criticized Duterte’s controversial war on drugs in which more than 4,100 drug suspects have been killed.
The UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial killings, Agnes Callamard, has become a particular Duterte target over her criticism of his campaign to stamp out illegal drugs.
In an exchange with Manila’s envoys in the UN Human Rights Council on Thursday, Zeid referred to November media reports from the Philippines that quoted Duterte threatening to slap Callamard, while using profanity.
“This is absolutely disgraceful that the president of a country could speak in this way, using the foulest of language against a rapporteur that is highly respected,” Zeid told reporters on Friday.
Zeid also referred to a pending case against the UN’s special rapporteur on the rights of indigenous people, Corpuz.
According to Zeid, the Justice Department charged Corpuz in a regional court last month with terrorism.
Manila has accused Carpuz of “alleged membership of the Communist Party of the Philippines and (the) New People’s Army,” Zeid said.
Zeid said that Corpuz believes she has been targeted because of comments she made regarding the alleged killings of indigenous people in the southern region of Mindanao, where Duterte has imposed martial law in an effort to curb a jihadist threat.
“This is of course unacceptable for a special rapporteur acting on behalf of the international community whose expertise is sought by the Human Rights Council to be treated in this way”, Zeid said. AFP, Vito Barcelo
“These attacks cannot go unanswered,” he added.
Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque declined to comment on the UN rights chief’s remarks, saying the Palace would leave the matter to the Department of Foreign Affairs.
Also on Friday, Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman said Duterte cannot challenge the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court over him if it determines the need for a full-blown inquiry into the killings being attributed to his war on drugs.
“As a signatory to the Rome Statute of the ICC, the Philippines is obligated to submit to the jurisdiction of the ICC and cooperate fully with ICC investigators,” Lagman said in a statement. AFP, Vito Barcelo