News
Maria Ressa speaks at the European Union
On October 28, 2020, Maria Ressa, co-founder and CEO of rappler.com spoke at a joint meeting of the EU Subcommittee on Human Rights (DROI) and EU Committee on Women’s Rights and Gender Equality (FEMM) (starting minute 10:34) about the situation for women since...
Misogyny is on the rise in the Philippines
According to International partners as well as partners from the Philippines cases of violence, sexual violence to the point of sexual abuse against women have increased substantially during Duterte’s regime. Especially human rights defenders are increasingly being...
Human Rights Defenders face increasing threats
The situation for human rights defenders in the Philippines has deteriorated during the past months. The assassination of Jory Porquia has been followed by the murder of Randall Echanis and Zara Alvarez, just to name the most prominent ones. Human rights defenders...
State of the Nation Address 2020 (SONA) and Reintroduction of the Death Penalty
In the 5th SONA on July 27, 2020, President Duterte announced the reintroduction of the death penalty by lethal injection in connection with drug-related offences. Since August 5, 2020, the issue has thus been back on the House of Representatives' agenda. The...
45th session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva
On the forty-fifth session of the Human Rights Council (UNHRC) adopted a weak follow-up resolution proposed by Island and the Philippines itself which does not contain an investigative mechanism. At the beginning of the session on September 14, 2020 Human Rights...
“If we don’t take significant action now, democracy as we know it is dead”
In an interview with Germany's broadcaster SWR, Maria Ressa, CEO and Co-founder of Rappler, talks about social media and their impact on society. The Philippines are known to be one of the world leading users of social media like facebook, twitter, etc. For many...
Press Freedom in the Philippines is continuously being limited
ABS-CBN: On November 3rd, 2020, a part of the remaining media infrastructure of ABS-CBN, two YouTube channels, were hacked and got off-air for some hours. The problem could be solved but it remains unclear who is responsible. Background: In July 2020, the Philippine...
Duterte threatens to block Facebook
President Duterte has been considering banning facebook from operating in the Philippines. This was a direct reaction to facebook shutting down numerous pro-government accounts due to “coordinated inauthentic behaviour” in September. Many of the accounts in question...
The german newspapers “Spiegel” and “taz” report on human rights violations in the Philippines
The situation of human rights in the Philippines has further deteriorated. Especially human rights defenders face an increasing level of threats and harassment. A climate of fear is predominant among members of civil society organisations. Extralegal killings and...
Her voice carries on. On the murder of Zara Alvarez
Press Release, Cologne, August 26, 2020 Philippine human rights activist Zara Alvarez is dead - murdered on August 17, 2020 in Bacolod City (Philippines). Organizations from Europe condemn the act and give their voice to her cause. We are sad, stunned and above all...
Murder of Zara Alvarez
The Philippine human rights defender, teacher and single mother of a minor daughter, Zara Alvarez, was killed by unidentified perpetrators near her apartment in Bacolod City, Negros Island (Philippines) on August 17, 2020. The members of the Aktionsbündnis...
Statement on the severe restrictions of human rights during the corona-crisis in the Philippines
The Aktionsbündnis Menschenrechte – Philippinen (AMP) expresses its deep concerns about severe restrictions of human rights in the Philippines, imposed in the context of the coronavirus pandemic and calls on the Philippine government and the European Union to take...
AMP Overview: OHCHR report on human rights situation in the Philippines
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), Michelle Bachelet, published the report on the situation of human rights in the Philippines on June 4, 2020 in accordance with the UN resolution 41/2, adopted by the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) on July...
Crackdown instead of Lockdown: An overview of COVID-19 restrictions in the Philippines and the struggle of vulnerable groups
Enhanced community quarantine (ECQ), a measure employed by the Philippine government to prevent the spread of Covid-19 infections in the Philippines, is supposed to protect the people, to provide safety and aid for endangered groups, and to lighten the pressure on the...
“Shoot them dead” – Parallels between the “War on Corona” and the “War on Drugs”
Like other leaders in the world, Duterte not only enforced police and military presence in the public space, but also described his government’s measures against the pandemic as warlike. The martial character of the governmental language culminated on April 1st into...
New Project Coordinator
Starting January 2020, Christina Keppel will coordinate the Action Network Human Rights Philippines located in the Asienhaus e.V. in Cologne, Germany. She is looking forward to the Philippine-related human rights work, interesting partners in the Philippines as well...
Mervin Toquero visits Berlin
From October 8-10, the Aktionsbündnis accompanied Mervin Toquero, responsible for human rights at the National Council of Churches in the Philippines, on his visit to Berlin. During meetings with the German Foreign Office, protestant church leaders, and Parlamentarian...
Arrest of Ex-General Palparan important first step in fight against impunity in the Philippines
After nearly three years on the run, the Federal Police arrested the retired General Jovito Palparan in Manila. He was wanted in connection with the disappearance of the university students Sherlyn Cadapan and Karen Empeño. They were abducted in 2006 by soldiers under...
Falsely charged human rights defender Zara Alvarez released
On July 22, political activist and human rights defender Zara Alvarez was released on bail. In October 2014, she was illegally arrested and unjustly incarcerated for 21 months. She still faces two charges of murder and robbery in band, believed to be fabricated in an...
Trumped-up charges against Roy Velez and Amelita Bravante
Trumped-up charges against Roy Velez and Amelita Bravante Urban poor and trade union leaders Roy Velez and Amelita Bravante were arrested on December 3, 2012. The activists were charged with the murder of soldiers and civilians in Ifugao and Camarines Norte. The...