Atty. Maria Sol Taule, Legal Counsel of KARAPATAN, at UPR Info
Pre-Session
On 30 August 2022, Atty. Maria Sol Taule, KARAPATAN’s Legal Counsel and one of the esteemed Partners of the firm, attended the prestigious and world-renowned annual 3-day Universal Periodic Review (UPR) Info Pre-Session held at Palais des Nations, Geneva, Switzerland to discuss “HUMAN RIGHTS IN THE PHILIPPINES”. UPR Info was established to promote human rights and raise awareness about the Universal Periodic Review (UPR), created by the United Nations in 2006.
Karapatan Alliance Philippines (or KARAPATAN), is a non-governmental organization that promotes, protects and advances human rights in the Philippines. KARAPATAN has participated in the UPR process at the national level since 2008.
Atty. Taule, as the delegate of KARAPATAN, attended the Pre-Session together with other organizations engaged in human rights work, such as TANGGOL BAYI (DEFEND WOMEN) PHILIPPINES, SAMAHAN NG EX-DETAINEES LABAN SA DETENSYON AT ARESTO (SELDA), DESAPARECIDOS, and HUSTISYA.
The UPR Info Pre-Session consists of delegates from countries all over the world under review to particularly discuss the situation of Human Rights in their respective countries as well as those engaged in Human Rights Practice.
Apart from the Philippines, the countries who also participated are: Algeria, Bahrain, Brazil, Ecuador, Finland, India, Indonesia, Morocco, Netherlands, Poland, South Africa, Tunisia, and United Kingdom.
Atty. Maria Sol Taule’s discussion focuses mainly on two aspects of human rights, namely: Freedom of Expression and Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association and on how to address these ever pervading and problematic issues in the Philippines.
As for Freedom of Expression, the Philippines is considered to be one of the world’s deadliest countries for journalists, with 22 killed during the past administration. These situations include: government critics face judicial harassment and imprisonment, attacks on and blocking of websites, online and offline attacks, including use of misogynist threats, red-tagging, and those critical of government actions during the pandemic were criminalized.
To address such issues, KARAPATAN recommended the following:
- ENSURE PROTECTION and a safe and enabling environment for those advocating for freedom of expression;
- HOLD ACCOUNTABLE all perpetrators of violations against journalists, human rights defenders and citizens exercising their freedom of expression; and
- DECRIMINALIZE libel and repeal anti-terror legislation that infringe on freedom of expression.
As to Freedom of Peaceful Assembly and Association and on Human Rights Defenders, it was reported that at least 222 human rights defenders were killed from July 2016 to June 2022 and online and offline red-tagging, defamation and disinformation inciting violence on human rights defenders, their organizations and families, and their communities have become more pervasive, and most of the 802 political prisoners are defenders facing criminal charges inside overcrowded prison cells and have experienced inhumane treatment and prolonged incarceration, while many defenders face judicial harassment, including KARAPATAN human rights workers.
To address these issues, KARAPATAN recommended the following:
- STOP extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, torture, arbitrary/illegal arrest and detention, red tagging, and other attacks against human rights defenders and civil society actors;
- ENSURE prosecution and conviction of perpetrators of these violations;
- ENACT legislation and other necessary legal domestic remedies for the protection of human rights defenders and repeal/rescind anti-terror legislations or counter insurgency programs which target defenders; and
- RELEASE all detained human rights defenders.