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MANILA, Philippines (AFP) — Prominent rights lawyer Amal Clooney has said she will join the legal team defending Philippine journalist Maria Ressa, whose news site has repeatedly clashed with President Rodrigo Duterte. Ressa, who was named a Time Magazine “Person of the Year” in 2018 for her journalism, faces several criminal charges along with her website Rappler, in what press freedom advocates have branded an act of “persecution”. “Maria Ressa is a courageous journalist […]
(Eagle News) – The Philippine government is “prepared to face any inquiry” to be conducted by the United Nations with regards to the war on drugs of President Rodrigo Duterte that has been criticized recently by more than two dozen countries, mostly from Europe. This was according to the Philippine department of justice which stressed that the country “need not be told by anyone” on how to conduct its controversial anti-illegal drug campaign. “With […]
PUTRAJAYA, Malaysia (AFP) — Malaysia’s government faced criticism Thursday for failing to repeal repressive laws and backtracking on promises to improve human rights a year after sweeping to power with a reformist agenda. A ramshackle coalition headed by veteran politician Mahathir Mohamad stormed to a shock election victory on May 9 last year, toppling a corruption-plagued regime that had led the country since independence from Britain in 1957. The Pact of Hope alliance had […]
(Eagle News)—The Palace on Thursday, Feb. 28, denied the government was waging a war on human rights defenders. Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo issued the statement as he slammed the Observatory of Human Rights Defenders report that said the Duterte administration “has taken measures that have actively contributed to an increasingly hostile environment for human rights defenders.” According to Panelo, the allegations in the report were “a rehash of the old issues thrown against the administration.” “One […]
Calls on “donor governments” to “intensify pressure” on Duterte (Eagle News) — President Rodrigo Duterte’s administration has “heightened its repression” in 2018 so “donor governments should intensify pressure” on the chief executive, the Human Rights Watch said in a statement. According to the group, the government’s “murderous ‘war on drugs’” has “expanded to cities outside Manila,” while “attacks against activists, journalists and critics of the government” continue. “President Duterte has used the killing of thousands […]
(Eagle News) — The Palace on Thursday, Dec. 20, slammed the call of United Nations special rapporteur Michael Forst for the Philippines to “end immediately all forms of violations against human rights defenders..,” calling it “irresponsible” and “reckless.” In the first place, Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said that if Forst had checked his facts first, he would have seen the “so-called human rights defenders never had it so good under the Duterte administration.” “They continue […]
by Julia RIOS Agence France Presse MANAGUA, Nicaragua (AFP) – The government of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega expelled two expert missions from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights Wednesday, accusing them of meddling and bias in evaluating the crisis-hit country. A letter to Organization of American States (OAS) Secretary General Luis Almagro said the suspension of the Special Follow-up Mechanism for Nicaragua (MESENI) and the Interdisciplinary Group of Independent Experts (GIEI) would remain “until conditions of […]
(Eagle News)—-Senator Risa Hontiveros said President Rodrigo Duterte was the “single biggest threat to human rights in the Philippines.” Hontiveros’ statement came on Dec. 10, Monday, a date the United Nations declared as International Human Rights Day. “The President has singlehandedly rolled back human rights safeguards and made the country a haven for human rights violators,” she said. Hontiveros noted what she said was the “bloody and abusive” war on drugs, which she said “has set […]
(Eagle News)–A human rights group on Thursday, Nov. 30, lauded a Caloocan court’s decision to convict three policemen for the killing of Kian Delos Santos in 2017. But while the Human Rights Watch said it was “heartened” by the decision of Branch 125 Judge Rodolfo Azcuna “a triumph of justice and accountability,” it was “wary” P03 Arnel Oares, P01 Jerwin Cruz and P01 Jeremias Pereda would escape liability “because (President Rodrigo) Duterte has promised to […]
The 71-year old Australian missionary Patricia Fox is now back in her home country Australia after leaving the Philippines Saturday night, Nov. 3. After losing a long legal battle with Manila to stop her deportation, she attacked Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s “reign of tyranny” Sunday. Fox, who spent almost three decades working with Philippine laborers, farmers and urban poor, was accused of illegally engaging in political activism as Duterte’s government cracked down on foreign […]
(Eagle News) — Philippine National Police Chief Oscar Albayalde welcomed the election of the Philippines into the United Nations human Rights Council (UNHRC), even as he called on critics to help the government address human rights violations. “First of all, the Philippine National Police shares with the entire Filipino nation the honor of being elected anew to the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) to serve another three-year term until 2020. The Philippines’ election to the […]
(Eagle News)–For Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano, the number of votes the Philippines got to be reelected to the United Nations Human Rights Council “speaks volumes of the confidence of the international community on the human rights record of the Duterte administration.” On Friday, 165 out of 192 member-states voted for the Philippines’ reelection for 2018 to 2020. Apart from the Philippines, Bahrain, Cameroon, Somalia, Bangladesh, and Eritrea were voted into the body. “We […]
