House approves bill that guarantees protection for human rights defenders 0 SHARES Share it! Share TweetBy Ben RosarioThe House of Representatives last night passed on final reading the proposed Human Rights Defenders (HRD) Protection bill that will prevent human rights violations and abuses committed against HRDs. Lagman said Karapatan Alliance for the Advancement of Human Rights has recorded the killing of 697 human rights defenders in the country for the period 2001-2018, while Task Force Detainees of the Philippines documented 76 human rights violations affecting 333 HRDs from September 2013 to September 2016 alone. HB 9199 is based on the United Nations (UN) Declaration on Human Rights Defenders and the Model National Law on the Recognition and Protection of Human Rights Defenders drafted by the International Service for Human Rights. In the recent World Report on the Situation of Human Rights Defenders, UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights Defenders Michael Forst called on the Philippine government to “end immediately all forms of violations against human rights defenders, including extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances.”He also urged the Philippine government to “cease immediately the public stigmatization of human rights defenders, which can incite perpetrators to act against them, and instead to publicly recognize the legitimacy and importance of their work.”

Source: Manila Bulletin June 03, 2019 12:00 UTC