News
Internship
We are looking for an intern for three months, from November 1st 2021 until January 31st 2022. The intern will conduct research that contributes to an NGO report on the human rights situation in the Philippines. The report will be submitted by the AMP to the UN Office...
Maria Ressa receives the Nobel Peace Prize
On October 8, 2021, the Nobel Committee in Oslo awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for the first time in 86 years to two journalists: Philippine journalist Maria Ressa and her Russian colleague Dmitry Muratov. In doing so, the committee recognized Ressa's efforts in her...
48th session of the UN Human Rights Council
Michelle Bachelet, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UN OHCHR), said on October 7 during the 48th session of the UN Human Rights Council that she remains concerned by continuing reports of serious human rights violations in the Philippines. She...
Chito Gascon, chair of the Commission on Human Rights, dies at 57
At the age of 57, Cito Gascon died on October 9, 2021, following a COVID 19 infection. Since 2015, the lawyer had been chairman of the Philippine Commission on Human Rights (CHR) - his term would have ended in May 2022. As a fierce critic of Dutertes so-called war on...
Investigation into police operations of the so-called war on drugs
The Department of Justice (DOJ) concluded its investigation into 50 cases of illegal-drug operations resulting in death. Without releasing the related report or disclosing details, DOJ Undersecretary Adrian Sugay summarized the investigation's findings on October 3,...
Divisive ploy in Lumad communities: 80-year-old Bai Bibyaon rebuffs allegations
Bai Bibyaon, the 80-year-old leader of the Manobo (a tribe belonging to the indigenous Lumads), is fighting back against allegations that she is being held against her will. She is voluntarily staying with the "Bakwit School" at the University of the...
On the death of Chito Gascon
The Aktionsbündnis Menschenrechte – Philippinen (AMP) mourns the death of Commission on Human Rights chairperson Jose Luis Martin “Chito” Gascon who died last Saturday, October 9, 2021, due to COVID-19. We express our condolences to his family, friends, and...
International Criminal Court (ICC) opens investigations
Update October 2021: International Criminal Court (ICC) Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan, in office since June 2021, commented on the approval of the investigation: "We will focus our efforts on ensuring a successful, independent and impartial investigation." The Office of...
DG Trade proposes new GSP scheme
EU DG Trade proposed a new EU GSP scheme on Septembre 22, 2021. The European Parliament and the Council will discuss the proposal. The current GSP+ scheme expires on December 31, 2023. Once adopted, the new GSP Regulation will apply from 1 January 2024. New aspects...
Listing of NDFP as terrorist group an “antipeace act”
On June 23 the controversial Anti-Terrorism Council (ATC) listed the the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) as a terrorist group in their Resolution Nr. 21, which they published later. Since 1992 the NDFP plays an essential role in tackling the roots...
Dan Balucio released
The release of United Church of Christ of the Philippines (UCCP) Pastor Dan Balucio on August 13, 2021 is a judicial ruling in favor of an unjustly accused and imprisoned activist. Balucio is part of the civil society movement in disaster relief, advocates for those...
Elena Tijamo reported dead after a year of forced disappearance
More than a year after Elena Tijamo had been kidnapped, her family confirmed her death on August 30, 2021, which happens to be the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances. Tijamo was a program coordinator and the Community Radio coordinator of...
Impunity of police officers continues
The Philippine judicial and police apparatus continues to face strong criticism despite the Department of Justice's (DOJ) review of extrajudicial killings by law enforcement officials in the so-called war on drugs. The Philippine National Police (PNP) only made less...
Another human rights lawyer shot in Cebu
The human rights lawyer Rex Fernandez was shot dead in Cebu City on August 26, 2021. In the late afternoon two unidentified motorcyclists ambushed Fernandez and his driver, who was rushed to the hospital. Fernandez was a founding member of the National Union of...
Beginning of the 48th session of the UN Human Rights Council
The 48th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) started last week in Geneva on September 13 and will be closed on October 8. It is to be expected that the human rights situation in the Philippines will be discussed in Item 10 on October 7. As a...
Her voice carries on
Anniversary of the murder of Zara Alvarez The Philippine human rights defender, teacher, and single mother, Zara Alvarez, was killed by unidentified perpetrators near her apartment in Bacolod City, Negros Island (Philippines) one year ago, on August 17, 2020. When we,...
Detention of two UCCP Pastors and three other human rights defenders in June
United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP) Pastor Benjie Gomez was arrested on June 6, 2021, in Nothern Zamboanga. Gomez, administrative pastor and Lumad advocate, had an arrest warrant for alleged murder. He was already arrested upon trumped-up charges back in...
Philippines again under supervision because of ‚gray‘ financial flows
The Financial Action Task Force (FATF), a Paris-based dirty money watchdog, decided on June 25, 2021, to include the Philippines on it’s “gray list” again. After failing to properly “address strategic deficiencies in their regimes to counter money laundering,...
Duterte one of the 37 „Press freedom predators“
Reporters Sans Frontière (RSF; Reporters Without Borders) published its list of global "Press freedom predators" on July 5, 2021. This year Rodrigo Duterte was listed for the first time as a "predator since taking office," alongside 36 other heads of government or...
Two minors killed in government operation
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) is deeply concerned by the death of Johndy Maglinte Helis, 16 years old, and Angel Rivas, 12 years old. UNICEF calls on the Philippine government to hold accountable the officers involved and points to the Convention on the...