‘Justice remains elusive for Philippine rights victims’

MANILA, Philippines — The United Nations and the Philippines’ Commission on Human Rights (CHR) are hopeful that there will be progress on accountability and reforms in the country’s human rights situation under the administration of President Marcos.

The CHR has called on the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) to support the UN Joint Program on Human Rights (UNJP) and to continue to monitor the situation closely, particularly the progress on “accountability.”

The UNJP provides technical assistance and capacity-building for reforms in six key areas, including domestic investigative and accountability measures; data gathering on alleged police violations; establishment of a national mechanism for reporting and follow-up; civic space and engagement with civil society and the CHR; counterterrorism legislation and human rights-based approaches to drug control.

The Marcos administration opposed attempts to resume the investigation by the International Criminal Court (ICC) on extrajudicial killings committed during the anti-drugs campaign of former president Rodrigo Duterte.

Last Sept. 8, the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) submitted to the ICC’s Pre-Trial Chamber (PTC) the response of the Philippine government to the proposal of Prosecutor Karim Khan to resume the investigation into the drug war of the Duterte administration.

Solicitor General Menardo Guevarra said the government asked the PTC to deny the proposal of the ICC Prosecutor to resume the investigation due to absence of jurisdiction, among others.

The UN report also revealed that human rights victims in the Philippines still face challenges in seeking justice amid continuing reports of human rights violations in the country.

The report said the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) gave updates on the Philippine government’s implementation of the UNJP with government agencies, national human rights institution and civil society.

The OHCHR acknowledged the government’s commitment to cooperate with the UN’s human rights mechanisms, including through the joint program, signed in July last year.

While acknowledging some progress in a number of areas, the report noted that considerable challenges remain.

“The government took some initiatives to advance accountability for human rights violations and abuses. However, access to justice for victims of human rights violations and abuses remained very limited,” it read.

“Institutional and structural shortcomings in law enforcement and the judiciary remained, despite efforts to address some cases,” the OHCHR said.

“While some cases have been investigated, these have so far not resulted in convictions and redress for victims,” the report read.

Cautiously optimistic

The CHR is “cautiously optimistic” that the government, under the new administration, can improve its investigation on the extrajudicial killings (EJKs) and human rights abuses committed by the previous administration in connection with the war on drugs.

“We are cautiously optimistic... We like to give it (ongoing drug war investigation) some chance, we like to give it some opportunity because the way we see it, it’s still a victory for the victims if there will be accountability at the domestic level,” CHR executive director Jacqueline Ann de Guia said in an interview with “The Chiefs” aired on Cignal TV’s One News last Monday night.

De Guia added that the CHR is seeing some positive developments, especially on the part of the DOJ and the OSG, which showed some level of commitment to pursue a genuine investigation on the EJKs and other human rights abuses committed in connection with the previous administration’s war on drugs.

“If we try to look at the statements of the new government, they are not totally closing their doors in the ICC probe. The mere fact that they are engaging in the process is itself indicative that there is hope about this new administration, and the fact that they did say that they are going to engage even out of committee (level) is a welcome development than having no engagement at all from the government,” she said.

The CHR chief cited Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla’s recent statement vowing to give protection and assistance to anyone, including police personnel who will come forward to testify on EJK cases.

De Guia also cited Guevarra’s statement that the OSG is willing to work with the CHR and other human rights advocate groups in prosecuting EJK cases.

These statements are “confidence-building measures that need to be followed through,” according to De Guia.

“As these are supposedly state perpetrated crimes, naturally there is a climate of fear. Naturally, victims and witnesses are afraid to come forward,” she said.

“But if there are more encouraging statements coming from government – from the DOJ and OSG, and that they partner with the CHR, then there are more chances that this climate of fear will be countered and there will be more trust on the side of the victims and the witnesses so that cases can move forward,” she added.

Guevarra, who was the justice secretary during the Duterte administration, recently maintained that the country’s legal system is working, hence, must be given the opportunity to finish its investigation on the previous war on drugs instead of being compelled to conduct a joint probe with the ICC on supposed state-sponsored killings.

“Give us more time on what we need to do and show you some results... Let us do our domestic mechanism rather than the ICC jointly investigating. So, leave us alone for now,” he said in an interview with The Chiefs last Friday.

Meanwhile, human rights group Karapatan and Tanggol Bayi, an association of women human rights defenders, submitted to the UNHRC last Monday their 29-page joint alternative report covering human rights issues during the administrations of the late Benigno Aquino III and Duterte as well as the first months of the Marcos administration.

The Philippine government undergoes its fifth review before the UN treaty body on Oct. 22, a decade since the UNHRC conducted a review on Manila’s compliance to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. – Elizabeth Marcelo, Artemio Dumlao