Work with gov’t in state human rights violations? Easier said than done, groups say

CEBU, Philippines – Amid consultations with Visayas-based civil society organizations for the 4th Philippine Human Rights Plan (PHRP 4) in Cebu on Monday, August 5, advocates and activists slammed government-proposed solutions to human rights violations for their “lack of sincerity.”

No less than abduction survivors Dyan Gumanao and Armand Dayoha clapped back at officials of the Presidential Human Rights Committee Secretariat (PHRCS) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) who suggested during the consultation that victims of human rights violations should report to government agencies about their cases. 

Gumanao questioned the logic of the suggestion, as the individuals who abducted them on January 10, 2023, reportedly introduced themselves as members of the Philippine National Police (PNP). 

But even then, when they went to report about their case to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) in May 2023, Gumanao said, “We were just scolded. We were just told that we did not want justice, but rather, we just wanted media publicity.”

For Dayoha, one of the biggest problems of the proposed plan of actions in the PHRP 4 draft was the inclusion of the inter-agency committee (IAC) tasked with handling cases of extralegal killings and enforced disappearances. 

The IAC, chaired by the DOJ, was established by virtue of Administrative Order No. 35 that was signed by the late former president Benigno Aquino III in November 2012.

Dayoha told Rappler on Monday afternoon that the IAC is composed of government agencies that rights groups have claimed were perpetrators of human rights violations. The IAC includes the PNP, the military, and the NBI to name a few.

“Decades of experience on the ground will really push us to question the sincerity of all of these pronouncements,” Dayoha said.

For compliance

Both Dayoha and Gumanao described the proposed solutions as done “merely for compliance” with recommendations from international organizations like the United Nations. 

Emalyn Aliviano, a Visayas coordinator of human rights group iDEFEND, told Rappler on Tuesday, August 6, seemingly “took off” from issues left unaddressed by the 3rd PHRP.

“It’s unfortunate that we don’t have a copy of the said assessment of the PHRP 3 so we cannot really join them in moving forward, in coming up or presenting this draft,” the human rights advocate said.

Despite this, Aliviano remarked that the consultations could still be a step forward in revitalizing the country’s commitment to human rights, especially if the government would finally act on recommendations from grassroots organizations and advocates.

“It can be done if they would hasten the human rights defenders’ bill into law…and if they can also, you know, whisper to the president, because it has been the proposal of the special rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression [Irene Khan] to really dismantle the NTF-ELCAC,” Aliviano added.

Addressing rights obligations

Undersecretary Severo Catura, the executive director of the PHRCS, told Rappler on Monday afternoon that he acknowledged that there was more to do in terms of effectively fulfilling the government’s human rights obligations.

“As much as possible, we try to look into the cases that they have mentioned – both that were reported to them and those that they have also experienced,” the undersecretary said.

Catura said that he understood the struggles faced by activists like Gumanao and Dayoha, especially their experience with agencies like the PNP, but encouraged them to still avail existing mechanisms for redress.

The PHRCS director urged individuals facing human rights cases to engage with the Commission of Human Rights (CHR), stressing that the organization is an independent constitutional office.

However, Gumanao mentioned that they were with the CHR when they went to meet with officials from the NBI. She added that while they appreciated the help from the independent office, there was still no official investigation report on their case more than a year after their abduction.

“How many more victims do they have to listen to to realize that the state’s policies, laws, and programs are being used to repress the civic spaces that are now shrinking?” Gumanao said. – Rappler.com