SEVERAL cause-oriented groups here and abroad urged the Supreme Court (SC) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) to take steps to stop incidents of extra-judicial killings (EJKs) and illegal arrests of human rights activists.
The groups made the appeal in a six-page letter addressed to Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo and Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra.
Among the groups that signed the letter-appeal were Action Network Human Rights Philippines (AMP), Action Solidarité Tiers Monde (ASTM), Advanced League of Peoples’ Artists (ALPA- Australia, Anakbayan) Asian Human Rights Commission, Hong Kong, Australian Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines, Bagong Alyansang Makabayan, Canada-Philippines Solidarity for Human Rights (CPSHR Vancouver), Canadian Ecumenical Justice Initiatives, Kilusang Mayo Uno (KMU), Migrante, and several others.
The groups expressed their concern on the recent extra-judicial killings, judicial harassment, arbitrary arrests and detention and threats through red-tagging of human rights defenders, including Karapatan human rights workers, human rights lawyers, trade unionists, and public sector unions, and organizers of community pantries in the Philippines.”
They specifically cited the killings of of trade unionists Emmanuel Asuncion and Dandy Manuel; fisherfolk leaders and couple Ana Mari and Ariel Evangelista; urban poor activists Melvin Dasigao and Mark Bacasno; and indigenous farmers Abner and Edward Esto and Puroy and Randy dela Cruz.
“Almost all were killed in the course of police and military operations, using questionable search warrants and the oft-heard ‘nanlaban’ narrative. We note that these were the same reasons given by the Philippine National Police (PNP) in the conduct of drug war operations in the Philippines, and we find it deeply disturbing that the same lines are being increasingly used now in the death of activists,” they said.
Thus, the groups appealed to the SC and DOJ to conduct prompt, thorough, independent and impartial investigations into the said killings and other violence committed against human rights activists.
They also sought the review and revisions of rules on the service of search warrants and issuances of arrest warrants against human rights defenders, “which appears to be routinely used to judicially harass and arbitrarily detain them.”
Furthermore, the groups are seeking the review and the revision of rules on the privilege of the writs of amparo and habeas data to ensure that human rights activists are afforded legal protection from threats to their lives, security and liberty, including red-tagging.
Aside from repealing the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020, they asked for the enactment of measures that would defend human rights defenders and to criminalize red-tagging.