News
ICC finds “basis to believe” Duterte’s drug war caused crimes against humanity
The International Criminal Court ICC has been investigating the human rights violations in the Philippines since the opening of preliminary investigations of the killings by police in the context of the so-called war on drugs in February 2018 by ICC's chief prosecutor...
Duterte distances himself from narco-list
While his family and friends mourn the death of slain Mayor Cesar Perez President Duterte claims that he had nothing to do with the so called "narco-list" which is believed to be responsible for Perez' death. The "narco-list" is a list containing the names of several...
CIVICUS report downgrades Phillipines from “obstructed” to “repressed”
CIVICUS Monitor, the Global research collaboration that tracks fundamental freedoms in 196 countries has just published their annual report “People Under Attack” 2020. In this report, CIVICUS has downgraded the Philippines from “obstructed” to “repressed”. Civic...
Duterte speaks at Human Rights Summit
On december 7th the Human Rights Summit organised by the department of Justice opened its doors. President Duterte said in his speech that he was proud that the Philippines signed many of the world’s core human rights treaties. Numerous organisations are criticising...
Arte Documentation: Human Rights Violations in the Philippines
The restrictions due to COVID-19 result in lesser documentation of the human rights situation in the Philippines as local NGOs can hardly continue their work. Carsten Stormer, a Manila based journalist, has now provided one of the view reportings on civil and...
More journalists killed in the Philippines
The number of journalists killed since Duterte came into power 2016 is constantly growing. Within the last two weeks there have been two assassinations, raising the total number to 19. On November 10th Virgilio Maganes from Pangasinan was shot several times by...
„War on Drugs“
Amid the pandemic, it has been difficult to document human rights violations in the context of the so-called war on drugs. People who would usually do so when they hear about a case of extrajudicial killing by taking photographs or interviewing the families of the...
Urgency Resolution on the situation in the Philippines in the European Parliament
Since late 2014, the Philippines is a beneficiary of the EU trade preferences given under the GSP+ scheme which are tied to the compliance with 27 international treaties, including 7 human rights conventions. On September 16, 2020, the European Parliament adopted an...
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...