UN Human Rights Committee review revealed “several areas of deficit” in the Philippine human rights records
Geneva 15 – 16 October 2012. The United Nations Human Rights Committee concluded the examination of thefourth periodic report of the Philippines on the implementation of the International Covenant on Civil andPolitical Rights (ICCPR). This review took place on 15 and 16 October 2012in Geneva and was attended by a dozen Civil Society Organisations (CSO) fromthe Philippines that submitted several reports.
On October 16, theChair of the Human Rights Committee, Zonke Majodina, concluded the dialogue onthe state of human rights in the Philippines. She referred to positivedevelopments that took place since the previous examination in 2003, includingthe recent adoption of the Framework Agreement between the Government and theMoro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) andthe 2009 anti-torture act.
The Human Rights Committee remainedconcerned about many difficulties faced by the State. The Chair noted “severalareas of deficit” in the implementation of the ICCPR. She expressed the needfor clarification on the status of the ICCPR in domestic law, whether it wasregarded as binding or only persuasive authority, and she expressed concernabout the absence of existing measures to implement the Committee’s views underits individual communications procedure.
The Committee noted the continuing occurrence of extra-judicialkillings and the high rate of enforced disappearances; the poor results of investigations and the lack ofprosecution, including the slow progress in the 2009 Ampatuan massacre. TheCommittee is concerned about the role of the private armed and the military auxiliary groups as well as the high number of loose weapons in circulation inthe country.
In addition, the Committee is alarmed bythe problem of overcrowding in prisons in Philippines, a matter that wasalready raised by the Committee during the last review, but which has not beenaddressed to-date. With regard to torture, the Government did not provide anystatistics to substantiate its claim that torture is not prevalent.
With regard to women’s rights, theChairperson said the Committee is deeply concerned about the “sharia laws andtheir impact on women”. The Committee was also alarmed that reproductive rightsare still not guaranteed, that access to contraception is highly restricted,and that abortion without exception is criminalized. According to the StateDelegation, the maternal mortality ratio has increased by a quarter from 2006and 2010.
The Committee welcomed the landmark Ang Ladlad rulingof the Supreme Court that allowed an LGBT party to participate in the electionbut stressed that more needs to be done due to the continuing absence ofanti-discrimination legislation, presence of a vague public scandal law, andanti-LGBT prejudice by military and election officials. The State delegation responded by notingpersistent, “prejudices against LGBTs.”
The HumanRights Committee will make its recommendations public at the end of itssession, on 1st November 2012.
Background information:
Thearchived webcast of the Philippines review can be seen at treatybodywebcast.org.
- NGO reports on the Philippines
- 4th State Report on Philippines
Contactsin Philippines:
- Rose Trajano – PAHRA – pahra@philippinehumanrights.org
- Ricardo Sunga – TFDP - tfdp1974@gmail.com
- Ging Cristobal – IGLHRC – gcristobal@iglhrc.org
- Jonas Bagas – TLF Share – jonasbagas@gmail.com
- Marie Hilao-Enriquez – KARAPATAN – karapatan.pid2@gmail.com
Contacts in Geneva:
- Seynabou Benga – OMCT- sb@omct.org
- Stuart Halford - Center for ReproductiveRights & SRI - stuart.geneva@sri-crr.org
- Asger Kjaerum – IRCT – akj@irct.org
- Patrick Mutzenberg – CCPR-Centre – pmutzenberg@ccprcentre.org
