Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 19) – A United Nations (UN) rapporteur on Sunday urged the Philippine government to protect human rights defenders in the country instead of pursuing countersuits against them.
Mary Lawlor, the UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders, made the appeal as members of cause-oriented groups Karapatan and Gabriela will face the court on Monday over a perjury case filed against them by National Security Adviser Hermogenes Esperon in March 2020.
“The perjury case brought by the government may also be a form of retaliation for the human rights activities of these local human rights defenders,” Lawlor said.
“We have seen in recent years that many defenders have been dragged before the courts, smeared, red tagged and murdered in the Philippines” she also said. “This intimidation should stop immediately.”
Karapatan secretary general Cristina Palabay will take the witness stand on Monday. Religious organization Rural Missionaries of the Philippines is also implicated in the perjury case lodged by the national security adviser.
Esperon sued the groups for allegedly lying in the writ of amparo and habeas corpus they filed against the government in May 2019. Their petitions were dismissed by the Court of Appeals a month later.
Lawlor also cited the two witnesses in the perjury case who were already killed, namely Karapatan members Ryan Hubilla and Zara Alvarez.
Hubilla, a 22-year-old senior high school student at the time of his death, was shot by unknown assailants in June 2019.
Alvarez, a known critic of the Duterte administration’s alleged human rights violations, was also gunned down by unidentified men in August 2020.
“We know that harassment and threats can be precursors to physical attacks, as they make defenders more vulnerable and isolated,” Lawlor said. “These attacks should stop immediately.”
Based on Karapatan’s data as of August 2021, a total of 421 human rights defenders were killed and 1,138 activists were arrested and detained during the Duterte administration.
