Recommendations to the Government of the Philippines on the occasion of the 1st Universal Periodic Review Session, April 2008
| Publisher | International Federation for Human Rights |
| Publication Date | 8 May 2008 |
| Cite as | International Federation for Human Rights, Recommendations to the Government of the Philippines on the occasion of the 1st Universal Periodic Review Session, April 2008, 8 May 2008, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/482c5bc921.html [accessed 4 June 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
8/05/2008
Recommendations to the Government of the Philippines on the occasion of the 1st Universal Periodic Review Session, April 2008
Issued by the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and its member organisation in the Philippines, the Philippine Alliance of Human Rights Advocates (PAHRA).
1. Torture and Enforced Disappearances
The results of the FIDH and PAHRA mission to the Philippines show that the practise of torture and ill treatment is widely used against individuals suspected of being "terrorists". The recently enforced anti-terrorism law of July 2007 could lead to an increase in the number of acts of torture and extra-judicial killings in the framework of state action against terrorism. The Philippine government is a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) as well as to the UN Convention Against Torture (CAT). As such, it committed itself to respect the absolute prohibition of torture. Nevertheless, torture is not criminialised under Filipino domestic law. In fact it is the victims of torture who bear the burden of proof when a case is filed for aggravated injury.
FIDH and PAHRA therefore call upon the Filipino authorities to:
- criminalise torture in Philippine domestic legal order in accordance with Article 4 of CAT and as recommended by the CRC, the Human Rights Council and various Special Procedures.
- carry out an independent investigation into the allegations of members of law enforcement agencies in acts of torture and enforced disappearances, and to ensure that they are judged in conformity with fair trial standards.
- ratify the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances.
2. Extrajudicial executions
Very few perpetrators of extrajudicial killings have been prosecuted despite the different mechanisms and initiatives put in place to cope with the respect of human rights. The estimates of extrajudicial killings vary from 100 to 800 or more extra-judicial killings in the Philippines since 2001. This extremely worrying situation raises the question of the efficiency of the judiciary on the one hand, and of the political will to prosecute the perpetrators on the other. Institutions in charge of investigation cases are mostly the same institutions harbouring the alleged perpetrators of the crime.
Our organisations call upon the Filipino authorities to:
- implement the recommendations issued by Philip Alston – notably the "elimination of extrajudicial executions from counter-insurgency operations, the investigation and prosecution of those committing extrajudicial executions and other serious crimes, as well as the reform and implementation of the witness protection programme."
3. Additional recommendations
In addition to this, we call call upon the Filipino authorities to:
- issue a standing invitation to all UN Human Rights Special Procedures
- uphold the rights of disadvantaged and vulnerable groups, in particular women, children, indigenous people and the Muslim minority, as part of the pledges made by the Government of the Philippines.
- Ratify the Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC)
- Ratify the International Convention on Migrant Workers (ICMW)
