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Philippines: HRC45: Joint Statement under Item 10 General Debate

45th session of the Human Rights Council

Item 10: General Debate

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Thank you, Madam President.

On behalf of 14 organisations, including colleagues in the Philippines, we are deeply disappointed that the draft Item 10 resolution on the Philippines fails to reflect the gravity of the situation,including as documented in the OHCHR report

Colleagues from the Philippines have tirelessladvocated for an international investigation, at great personal risk. The thousands of victims of killings and other violations and their families continue to be deprived of justice.

This is a collective failure by the States at this Council. We are shocked by the lack of support for a more robust response

We acknowledge the rationale presented for constructive engagement with the Government of the Philippines. However, an approach based purely on technical cooperation and capacity-building has no realistic prospect of meaningful impact with a government that denies the true scale and severity of the human rights violations, has publicly endorsed the policy of killingsavoids independent investigations, and continues to crack down on civil society

Despite the shortcomings of the resolution, it at least keeps the situation on the agenda for the next two years and allows for robust reporting by the OHCHR on the situation – including the implementation, or lack thereof, of OHCHR report recommendations. The Council must follow developments closely and be ready to launch an independent investigation if the killings and the crackdown on civil society do not immediately end and prosecution of perpetrators is not pursued.

I thank you.

Alyansa Tigil Mina (ATM)
Amnesty International 
Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA)
CIVICUSWorld Alliance for Citizen Participation
Ecumenical Voice for Human Rights and Peace in the Philippines (EcuVoice)
Franciscan International 
Harm Reduction International
Human Rights Watch 
iDefend
International Commission of Jurists (ICJ)
International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH)
International Service for Human Rights (ISHR)
KARAPATAN
Philippine Alliance of Human Rights Advocate (PAHRA)
World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT)

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