Human Rights Watch statement on Section 6 (6) of the “Bayanihan to Heal as One Act” signed by President Duterte on March 24, 2020: Section 6 (6) of the law punishes “individuals or groups creating, perpetuating, or spreading false information regarding the COVID-19 crisis on social media and other platforms, such information having no valid…
Dispatches: The Philippine Picture of Badjao Displacement By Carlos H. Conde The striking image of a Filipino girl – a member of the indigenous Badjao tribe – begging in the streets of Lucban, a town in Quezon province south of Manila, has gone viral in the Philippines and prompted a flood of public concern and…
Duterte Harry Has Been Dirty For a Long Time The new president of the Philippines has been bragging about murdering “criminals” for at least a decade. By Phelim Kine Deputy Director, Asia Division Human Rights Watch https://www.hrw.org/news/2016/05/17/duterte-harry-has-been-dirty-long-time In May 2015, Rodrigo Duterte invited my colleagues and I for some rest and relaxation in Davao City,…
Philippines: Soldiers Stand Aside While Paramilitaries Attack Villagers, Students Military claims of ‘tribal war’ and denials of complicity fall flat when troops do nothing (Manila, September 24, 2015) – The Philippine military has repeatedly stood aside while paramilitary forces have attacked indigenous villages and schools in the southern region of Mindanao, Human Rights Watch said…
Philippines: New Police Chief Should Tackle Abuses Action Needed on Torture, Extrajudicial Killings (Manila, Sept. 2, 2015) – The Philippine National Police should hold to account all police officers responsible for human rights violations, Human Rights Watch said today in a letter to the police chief, Director General Ricardo Marquez. President Benigno Aquino III appointed…
Philippines: New Military Chief Should Ensure Rights Reforms General Iriberri Should Reform Discredited Rights Office; Hold All Violators to Account (Manila, August 5, 2015) – The Philippine military should take all necessary and appropriate action to prevent abuses by its personnel and to ensure accountability for human rights violators, Human Rights Watch said today in…
Philippines: Aquino Should Deliver on Rights Promises Final State of Nation Address Should Emphasize Reform (Manila, July 22, 2015) – Philippine President Benigno Aquino III should commit his administration to meaningful human rights reforms in his final State of the Nation Address on July 27, 2015, Human Rights Watch said today. Aquino’s address may be…
Below is the letter Human Rights Watch and several other NGOs/CSOs sent to US Senator Lindsey Graham of the Senate Appropriations Committee urging the Senate to retain the restrictions on US military aid to the Philippines Army due to continuing human rights abuses and impunity in the Philippines. Human Rights Watch == Joint Letter to…
Philippines: Probe Mayor’s Alleged ‘Death Squad’ Links Davao Mayor Duterte Epitomizes Impunity for Extrajudicial Killings (Manila, May 19, 2015) – The Philippine government should investigate Davao City’s Mayor Rodrigo Duterte for his possible role in summary executions in the city over the past decade, Human Rights Watch said today. Duterte has continued to espouse the…
Indonesia: Stop Imminent Executions Death Penalty for Drug Crimes Violates International Law (Jakarta, April 25, 2015) – President Joko Widodo of Indonesia should urgently commute the death sentences of 10 people who face imminent execution for drug trafficking, Human Rights Watch said today. Following the exhaustion of legal appeals on April 24, 2015, Indonesian authorities…
Thailand: Army Secretly Detaining 17 Muslim Activists Arbitrary Arrests Chill Rights Climate in South (New York, April 4, 2015) – Thai military authorities should immediately confirm the location of 17 student activists who were arbitrarily arrested on April 2, 2015, in Thailand’s southern Narathiwat province, Human Rights Watch said today. The activists should be freed…
Dispatches: Jailing the Philippines’ Elusive Journalist Killers By Carlos Conde, Human Rights Watch February 9, 2015 Media freedom advocates in the Philippines scored a rare victory when a court convicted an alleged gunman in the killing of broadcaster Miguel Belen. The court, in the province of Camarines Sur, last week sentenced Eric Vargas to a…
Philippines: End Police Torture, Killings Aquino Should Act Decisively to Punish Perpetrators (Manila, January 31, 2015) – The Philippine government of President Benigno Aquino III should take decisive action against torture and extrajudicial killings by the police and other state security forces, Human Rights Watch said today in its World Report 2015. The Aquino administration…
Laos: Pledge Action on Rights, Stop ‘Disappearances’ UN Review Opportunity for Progress, Answers on Sombath Somphone (Geneva, January 19, 2015) – The government of Laos should use the United Nations Human Rights Council review of its record to pledge concrete measures to address its pervasive human rights problems, Human Rights Watch said today. Laos will…
Dispatches: A Deadly Start to 2015 for Philippine Journalists by Phelim Kine, Human Rights watch JANUARY 8, 2015 On Thursday, Nerlita “Nerlie” Ledesma became the first journalist murdered in the Philippines in 2015. Unidentified gunmen on a motorcycle shot and killed Ledesma, a 48-year-old reporter for the Abantetabloid newspaper in the city of Balanga in…
France: An Attack on Free Expression Response to Charlie Hebdo Killings Should Protect Rights (PARIS, JANUARY 8, 2015) — French authorities should bring to justice those responsible for the horrific attack on the office of Charlie Hebdo on January 7, 2015, Human Rights Watch said today. The authorities should guard against backlash against French Muslims…
Dispatches: Relieving the Philippines’ Overcrowded Jails By Carlos H. Conde, Human Rights Watch January 6, 2015 The Supreme Court of the Philippines has ordered 286 people to be released from jail because they had already spent the same amount of time behind bars as the minimum penalties for their alleged offenses. The court’s long-overdue action…
The Mockery and Barbarism of Iran’s “Judiciary” by Jose Mario De Vega I refer to “Iran: Death Sentence for Facebook Posts”, the Human Rights Watch, December 2nd with regard to the “imminent risk of execution” of a 30-year-old man for “insulting the prophet”. I concur with the Human Rights Watch’s position that “Iran’s judiciary should…
Dispatches: Uniting Against the Pakistan School Massacre by Zama Coursen-Neff, Human Rights Watch December 16, 2014 The attack on a school in Peshwar in northwestern Pakistan that left at least 145 dead – almost all of them children – sets a new low of depravity for the Pakistani Taliban. Tragically, the attack, while horrific in…
Dispatches: CIA Torture Report, a Disturbing Read John Sifton, Human Rights Watch December 10, 2014 I have now read most of the 499-page summary of the Senate Intelligence Committee report on CIA torture. Having spent years investigating the abuses detailed by the committee, I did not think it was possible to still be shocked by…
