UN rapporteur report ‘silver lining’ amid PHL rights abuses — Villarin

For Akbayan party-list Representative Tom Villarin, the report by a United Nations special rapporteur on the human rights situation in the Philippines is a "silver lining" amid the rights abuses happening in the country, particularly against human rights defenders.

"It is an indictment that state-sanctioned killings have even imperiled those tasked to defend human rights and destroyed institutions that protect them," Villarin said in a statement.

"It is another strong and mounting evidence piling up that would make a clear case against President Duterte and his minions in the International Criminal Court (ICC)," he added. 

"It clearly lays the predicate why an ICC investigation should immediately commence and not wait for more dead bodies to further pile up."

In the latest World Report, UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders Michel Forst said some states including the Philippine government "have actively taken steps to frustrate the enjoyment of the rights outlined in the Declaration" on the Right and Responsibility of Individuals, Groups and Organs of Society to Promote and Protect Universally Recognised Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms.

“The government’s War on Drugs has created a climate of insecurity and impunity for extrajudicial killings that affect human rights defenders,” the report read.

Forst called on the Philippine government to stop stigmatizing human rights defenders, and instead recognize the legitimacy and importance of their work and ensure the protection of their rights.

Villarin said the report serves as good news for the family of those who lost their lives in extrajudicial killings and for human rights groups.

"The report is timely and encouraging for the kin of victims of extrajudicial killings and human rights groups who are lumped as 'enemies of the state' and being drug protectors,” he said.

The World Report is the first global survey on the situation of human rights defenders, identifying the progress and challenges that need to be addressed in relation to human rights and freedom. — BM, GMA News