Surveillance, threats and harassment of Karapatan human rights workers and peasant leaders

Surveillance /

Threats / Harassment

Philippines

May 18, 2015

The Observatory for theProtection of Human Rights Defenders, a joint programme of the WorldOrganisation Against Torture (OMCT) and the International Federation for HumanRights (FIDH) requests your urgent interventionin the following situation in The Philippines.

Description of the situation:

The Observatory has been informed by reliable sources about thesurveillance, threats, and harassment suffered by several human rights workersat the SouthernMindanao Region Chapter of the Alliance for the Advancement of People's Rights(Karapatan), as well as several peasant leaders and their families victims ofhuman rights violations in Davao City PaquibatoDistrict, and Bukidnon Province, Mindanao, who had sought shelter in Karapatanoffice.

Human rights defenderstargeted include Karapatan staff: Ms. EdessaSandra Campos and Ms. LeonoraRicafort, together with Ms. Ricafort’s son, as well as peasant leaders: Ms. AidaSanduman-Seisa, Secretary General of Paquibato District Peasants Alliance(PADIPA), Mr. Eduardo Regidor, acting Chairperson ofPADIPA,and his three sons, Mr. PrimjunOblianda-Cabatuan and Ms. RoselynTausa, both members of PADIPA.

According to theinformation received, on April 26, 2015, at 10 a.m. several men with a militaryhaircut and wearing light fatigue shirt and short pants, and who appeared to besoldiers, showed up in the neighbourhoods of Karapatanoffice in Davao City. The men walked back and forth on the road and stood in front of the buildingtrying to look through the gate at the people inside. One ofthem was heard commenting by phone to an unknown interlocutor the exactlocation of the NGO office and of the peasant leaders who had sought refugethere.

Moreover,when Mr. Eduardo Regidor left the office withhis three sons, three men armed with 45 caliber pistols followed them and oneof them, the same one that made the phone call, told him “Aha, dito lang pala kayo nagtatago (So, you are hiding here)”.Alarmed by the man’s statement, Eduardo and his sons flagged down a taxi, gotinto the car, and instructed the driver to speed up. The three armed men alsorode their individual motorcycles and tailed the taxi, but eventually losttrack of it.

OnApril 27, after 7 p.m., Mr. Eduardo Regidor arrived at Karapatan office. A fewminutes later, three men went to the office’s gate and attempted to get inside.One of the men carried with him something wrapped with a towel, possibly a gun.When asked, they refused to identify themselves. When those inside theKarapatan office did not open the gate, one of the men pushed the gate and thetwo other men attempted to climb the concrete wall to get inside the compound.One of the men was the same person who the day before was conductingsurveillance outside the Karapatan office.

The attempts of the men to barge into theKarapatan office stopped only when a Karapatan staff member called for policeassistance and members of the media. After the media and police interview, thepolice brought the Karapatan staff to the San Pedro Police Station to file areport of the incident.

The Observatory would like to point outthat Karapatan staff members in the Southern Mindanao Region are constantlysubjected to surveillance, threats, and harassment from the military. They arelabeled by the military as “enemies of the State” and “front organisations ofthe communists.” Karapatan attributes these violations to the intensificationof military operations, especially in Mindanao, where 60% of the total troopsof the Armed Forces of the Philippines are deployed under thecounter-insurgency programme Oplan Bayanihan.

The Observatory expresses its deepestconcern over the ongoing acts of harassment and surveillance faced by membersof Karapatan office in Southern Mindanao Region and peasant leaders and theirfamilies. The Observatory calls upon the authorities to guarantee in all circumstances the physical andpsychological integrity of the members of Karapatan and peasant leaders and theirfamilies and to conduct a swift, thorough, and impartial investigation on theabove-mentioned acts.

The Observatory also calls upon theauthorities to immediately put an end to any form ofharassment against human rights defenders in the Philippines.

Action requested:

Please write to the authorities in Philippines,urging them to:

i. Guarantee in all circumstances the physical and psychological of themembers of Karapatan and peasant leaders and their families and of all humanrights defenders in the Philippines;

ii. Order an immediate, thorough, transparent, effective and impartialinvestigation into the above-mentioned facts in order to identify all thoseresponsible;

iii. Put an end to any kind of harassment against the members of Karapatanand peasant leaders and their families and of all human rights defenders in thePhilippine, and in general against all defenders who work for the protection ofland rights and human rights in Philippines;

iv. Conform with the provisions of the UN Declaration on Human RightsDefenders, adopted by the General Assembly of the United Nations on December 9,1998, especially regarding the following Articles:

- Article 1: everyone has the right, individually and in association withothers, to promote and to strive for the protection and realisation of humanrights and fundamental freedoms at the national and international levels;

- Article 12.2: the State shall take all necessary measures to ensure theprotection by the competent authorities of everyone, individually and inassociation with others, against any violence, threats, retaliation, de factoor de jure adverse discrimination, pressure or any other arbitrary action as aconsequence of his or her legitimate exercise of his or her rights [...];

v. Ensure in all circumstances the respect for human rights and fundamentalfreedoms in accordance with international human rights standards andinternational instruments ratified by Philippines.

Addresses:

· H.E. Benigno S. Aquino III, President of the Republic of thePhilippines, New Executive Building, Malacañang Palace, JP Laurel St., San Miguel,Manila 1005, Philippines. Fax:+63 2 736 1010, Tel: +63 2 735 6201 / 564 1451 to 80; Email: corres@op.gov.ph /opnet@ops.gov.ph;

· Secretary Ramon J.P. Paje, Departmentof Environment and Natural Resources (DENR),Visayas Avenue, Diliman, 1100 Quezon City, Philippines, Fax: +63 2 920 4301 , Tel: +632 920 4352; +63 2 926 2688; +632 926 2535; +63 2 925 8275, Email: osec@denr.gov.ph

· Hon. Loretta Ann P. Rosales, Chairperson, Commission on Human Rights,SAAC Bldg., UP Complex, Commonwealth Avenue, Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines. Fax: +632 929 0102. Email: chair.rosales.chr@gmail.com / mtm_rodulfo@yahoo.com;

· Hon. Vicente "Tito" CasteloSotto III, SenatePresident, Office of the Senate, Officeof the Senate Secretary, Hon. Emma L. Reyes, 6th flr. Senate of the Philippines, RoxasBlvd., Pasay City, Tel: +63 2 552-6601 loc. 6129/23 & 24 / +63 2 552-6676,Email: osec@senate.gov.ph;

· Hon. Leila de Lima, Secretary, Department of Justice (DOJ), DOJ Bldg.,Padre Faura, Ermita, Manila 1000, Fax: +632 523 9548, Email:lmdelima@doj.gov.ph / lmdelima.doj@gmail.com

· Hon. Jose Midas Marquez, Court Administrator, Supreme Court of thePhilippines, 3rd Flr., NewSupreme Court Bldg., Annex, Padre Faura St., Ermita 1000, Manila, Tel: +63 2522 590 to 94, Fax: +63 2 526 8129, Email: pio@supremecourt.gov.ph / sc.judiciary@gov.ph;

· Police Director General Alan LA Madrid Purisima, Chief, PhilippineNational Police, Camp General Rafael Crame, Quezon City, Philippines, Fax: +632 724 8763/ +63 2 723 0401, Tel: + 63 2 726 4361/4366/8763, Email: feedback@pnp.gov.ph;

· Hon. Emilio Gonzalez, Deputy Ombusdman, Office of the Deputy Ombudsmanfor the Military And other Law Enforcement Offices, 3rd Flr., Ombudsman Bldg., Agham Road,Diliman, 1004 Quezon City, Fax: +63 2 926 8747, Tel: +63 2 926 9032;

· H.E. Mr. Evan P. Garcia,Ambassador, Permanent Mission ofthe Philippines to the United Nations in Geneva, 47 Avenue Blanc, 1202 Geneva,Switzerland, Fax: +41 22 716 19 32, Email: geneva.pm@dfa.gov.ph;

· Embassy of the Philippines in Brussels, 297 Avenue Moliere, 1050Brussels, Belgium, Tel: +32 2 340 33 77 / 2 340 33 78, Fax: +32 2 345 64 25.

Please also write to the diplomatic mission or embassy of Philippines in yourrespective country.