On 8 March, indigenous community leader Benjamín Juárez José was violently arrested by municipal police, forced into a police car and taken into custody in Matías Romero prison. Later that night he was transferred to the local hospital, supposedly for treatment. However, the hospital authorities declared in a statement that Benjamín was dead on arrival.

In an apparent attempt to cover up the killing, the local authorities declared that he was alive when he left the prison, but, according to the medical team, he was already dead when he arrived at the hospital. An autopsy is being carried out, but his body showed clear signs of him having been badly beaten, including extensive bruising and a cut on his forehead. He had apparently died about one hour previously.

Local community leaders are demanding an investigation into the circumstances of Benjamín’s death, given that this is the second death in similar circumstances, in this local jail in recent months.

So far there has been no credible investigation into either killing. There have also been other incidents during which detainees were badly beaten while in police custody. According to local police sources, an investigation has been opened into possible excessive use of force.

Local indigenous community leaders have been protesting outside the town hall with red and black crosses, demanding a full investigation into the killing.

On the evening of Sunday, 8 April, Suhas Haldankar, a RTI (Right to Information) activist, who had exposed several instances of political corruption in the Kharalwadi area of Maharashtra, was brutally murdered.

Eleven people have been arrested, including a former Congress corporator (elected local municipal official).

Haldankar was going home on his motorbike when he was stopped by two of the accused at a cross roads in the Kharalwadi area. They ridiculed Haldankar for a board he had put up recently, highlighting the lack of basic civic amenities in Kharalwadi. A group of 10-12 people then started throwing concrete blocks at Haldankar, who collapsed and died before he could be taken to hospital.

According to media reports, Suhas was highlighting the poor state of the civic administration in his area and had exposed several irregularities in the functioning of the Pimpri-Chinchwad municipal corporation (PCMC). At least one of the accused is said to be a former member of the PCMC and allegedly belongs to the Indian National Congress.

16 RTI activists have been killed in Maharashtra State since 2010, three of them since the present state government came to power in 2014. Condemning the incident, the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI) has sent a complaint to the National Human Rights Commission calling on them to monitor the police investigation as “Suhas was a human rights defender fighting for public causes.” CHRI has also urged the Maharashtra State Information Commission to call for all pending RTI applications filed by Suhas to be made public. The central government has been trying to insist that all RTI applications for information should normally abate on the death of the appellant, which in this case would give a victory to the killers.

Currently, there is no law across India to protect whistleblowers who are victimised for exposing corruption. Parliament approved the Whistleblower Protection Act in 2011 but, instead of implementing it, the central government has pushed regressive amendments that will discourage potential whistleblowers from coming forward.

Taxi driver José Alberto Toledo Villalobos, was a human rights defender and campaigner for indigenous peoples’ and land rights in the area of San Pedro Tapanatepec. Oaxaca. He was a leading campaigner against large scale mining projects, which are being proposed for development in the eastern part of the Istmo region. He was also involved in the campaign against the imposition of excessive charges for electricity.

At 08.00pm on Saturday 8 March he was found badly beaten and semi-conscious on the road between San José and the petrol station at Tapanatepec. He had extensive bruises and other injuries and his taxi, which was found nearby, was a complete wreck.

According to witness reports, his taxi was followed by several other vehicles, which pursued him until they finally drove him off the road. The killers then beat José Alberto, leaving him in a critical condition. He was initially taken to a local clinic, before being taking to another hospital, because of the critical nature of his injuries, where he later died.

José Alberto had taken part in recent dialogues between local communities and the state authorities to reach agreement on how to de-escalate the conflict with the communities over the electricity charges. Despite an agreement with the Comisión Federal de Electricidad (CFE) that there would be no reprisals against the activists, the company continued to harass them with threats and intimidation, while electricity was cut off to the communities throughout the month of March.

José Alberto had reportedly received numerous death threats, telling him to give up his campaign for lower electricity charges or face the consequences.

Originally published in InterAksyon.com
The online news portal of TV5

Andrew Anderson is executive director of Ireland-based Front Line Defenders, which works on the security and protection of human rights defenders at risk around the world. The group notes that ‘while many people are focusing on killings in the context of the crackdown on the drug trade, no one is really focusing on the pattern of attacks on human rights defenders.’ Last year, Front Line Defenders recorded 281 killings of human rights defenders worldwide, 31 of these in the Philippines, making it ‘the most dangerous country in the world in which to be a HRD, outside of the Americas.’

On Thursday, 2 March, Jimboy Tapdasan Pesadilla was contacted by a neighbor to go to his parents’ house urgently. When he got to the house, he found several neighbors outside the house and a team of police inside, taking pictures. His father and mother had both been shot dead.

Ramon Dagaas Pesadilla and his wife Leonila Tapdasan Pesadilla were both active members of the Compostela Farmers’ Association. The CFA has been vocal in its opposition to major mining projects in the area, and as a result their members have been regular targets for the security forces and thugs hired by the mining companies. Ramon and Leonila had recently donated land for a lumad (the non-Muslim indigenous people of the southern Philippines) community school.

This had made them a particular target for attack as the security forces accuse indigenous community schools of fostering support for the New People’s Army. Human rights groups have reported an upward trend in human rights violations against indigenous people ever since fighting resumed between communist rebels and government forces following the termination of both parties’ unilateral ceasefires early last month.

These latest killings bring to 17 the number of HRDs killed since the start of 2017.

When President Benigno Aquino III of the Philippines left office in June 2016, he could at least claim some credit for a significant drop in the number of extra-judicial executions, even though the activities of government-backed death squads still remained a major cause for concern.

Since the election of President Rodrigo Duterte, killings are once more on the increase. These crimes are rarely investigated or the perpetrators held to account. According to Human Rights Watch’s 2016 Annual Report: “Among the reasons are lack of political will to investigate and prosecute abuses by state security forces; a corrupt and politicized criminal justice system; and a traditional “patronage politics” system that protects officials and security forces.”

In its 2016 Annual Report, Front Line Defenders reported 281 killings of human rights defenders around the world. Thirty-one of those killings took place in the Philippines, the largest number of killings of HRDs in any country outside the Americas.

By calling for the extrajudicial killing of those involved, or suspected of being involved, in the drug trade, President Duterte has sent a signal that murder is an acceptable way of dealing with certain social problems. The ending of the peace talks and the ceasefire has made an already volatile situation even more dangerous, especially for indigenous peoples or environmental HRDs who object to mining or other polluting industries.

The Philippines is now one of the most dangerous countries in the world in which to be a HRD and the government of President Duterte must act urgently to break the cycle of violence, ensure the security forces operate within the rule of law and bring the perpetrators to justice or stand accused of complicity in murder.

The recent decision to involve the Armed Forces of the Philippines in the war on drugs, especially in the lands of indigenous peoples, is a dangerous development which will do nothing to solve the drug problem or resolve the decades-old conflict, but will certainly increase the death toll.

Since the beginning of February there has been a catalogue of killings of lumad community leaders. On 3 February, Matanem Lorendo Pocuan and Renato Anglao, were gunned down in separate incidents. On 6 February, Emelito Rotimas was shot eight times by suspected military agents, while later the same day Glenn Ramos, was shot dead by personnel of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group. On 16 February, Edweno ‘Edwin’ Catog, was shot by two men, believed to be linked to the 46th Infantry Battalion-Philippine Army. He had previously been warned by a relative that he should go into hiding because he was on a military hit list. On 19 February, Willerme Agorde of Mailuminado Farmers’ Association Incorporated (MAFAI) was shot by suspected members of the Bagani paramilitary group.

According to Cristina Palabay of human rights organization Karapatan, “There is a consistent pattern in these killings. Every political killing is justified by the military with claims that victims are members of the New People’s Army (NPA), and have been killed during ‘legitimate’ encounters’. In the cities, we are being fed a similar narrative — with the police justifying drug-related killings during ‘legitimate’ police operations. These killings are perpetrated by state security forces who seem to think that they have been granted the right to kill indiscriminately.”

President Duterte has encouraged the killers and must be held responsible for his actions. The international community must challenge President Duterte’s endorsement of murder. Failure to do so will send a signal to dictators everywhere that they can wage war on their own people with impunity.

The number of killings is not just a measure of entrenched violence, but an indicator of the failure of successive Philippine governments to deal with issues of poverty, corruption and discrimination, as well as the lack of economic or social opportunities for the vast majority of the people of the Philippines.

A key step towards addressing this issue is for the government to recognize the key role of HRDs in helping to create a more just and equal society in the Philippines.

On 15 February, environmental rights lawyer, Manuelita Cumba Mascariñas-Green was shot and killed by unidentified gunmen while she was driving her three young children home in the capital city of Tagbilaran, Bohol. Two men on motorcycles blocked her car and shot her dead. The manner of the killing is consistent with the pattern of killings of other lawyers and political activists in recent years and shows it was a planned attack.

Yeb Saño, Executive Director of Greenpeace Southeast Asia, said in a statement «Those who cause environmental destruction are resorting to savage measures and deplorable acts to stop communities and people who are standing up to protect our imperilled environment and the very ecosystems that support  the lives and livelihoods of our people».

Atty. Mascariñas-Green handled agrarian and human rights cases in Cebu before she transferred to Bohol and was described by her colleagues as brave and courageous. Atty. Mascariñas-Green is the seventh lawyer killed since President Duterte came to power. Of the seven killed, one was a judge while two were prosecutors. All seven were shot to death.

According to the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL), “Given the government’s failure to adequately investigate these killings, amid the growing number of unresolved extrajudicial drug related killings and attacks on political activists, there are fears that this new attack will become just another name on the long list of unresolved killings”.

Meanwhile, many other members of the legal profession have been the targets of unsuccessful killings, threats, and smear campaigns. The NUPL believes that “…this series of attacks against judges, prosecutors and lawyers is not only directed against their persons and the legal profession, but also against the litigants’ and victims’ constitutional right to counsel and justice. If the lawyers representing and defending the victims of human rights abuses do not feel safe in the discharge of their duties, not only the cause of their clients but justice itself are at stake. Without that freedom from fear in performing their duties as lawyers, they cannot effectively be agents of justice”.

At a time of populist right wing anti human rights rhetoric when respect for human rights is under threat human rights defenders (HRDs) are increasingly at risk. In its Annual Report covering the period January-December 2016 Front Line Defenders reported the killing of 281 human rights defenders – 215 of them in the Americas. In this last week alone Front Line Defenders has received reports of the killing of 6 HRDs in Guatemala, Colombia and Mexico

On 06 January Olmedo Pito García was shot dead by unknown gunmen when he was travelling home from work. Olmedo was a member of the Movimento Sem Terras ( Landless Rights Movement) and was an active campaigner for the land  rights of the indigenous community. His was just the latest killing in what appears to be the targeted killings of land rights activists.

On 07 January Aldemar Parra García, president of the Asociacion Agricola de El Hatillo, in the province of Cesar in Colombia, was shot dead by two gunmen travelling on a motor bike which had been seen scouting out the area on previous days. Aldemar was one of a  group of local activists protesting against contamination caused by mining projects in the area.

ON 13 January 53 year old community leader Edmiro León Alzate was reported missing in the province of Antioquia, Colombia. The next day his body was found on the side of the road. He had been shot dead. Edmiro was one of the community leaders who had been defending the community’s access to water and campaigning to protect water sources in advance of the development of a major hydroelectric project in the area.

In 2005 Colombian environmental rights defender Isidro Baldenegro Lopez won the Goldman Environmental Prize for North America. Isidro Baldenegro was recognized internationally as a champion of indigenous land rights. On Sunday 15 January he was shot in the home of a relative and died later from his injuries. According to local media reports the murder suspects are linked with known assassins of other Indigenous environmental activists in the region.

On Tuesday, January 17, protesters led a peaceful demonstration against a hydroelectric plant in Guatemala. But the event ended in death after paramilitaries shot and killed 72-year-old activist Sebastian Alonso. The groups have been protesting the project for five years, with little acknowledgement from government officials. Violence has dogged the dam project; in 2014, two people died in disputes over the project.

Colombian human rights defender Emilsen Manyoma was last seen with her husband, Joe Javier Rodallega, boarding a taxi in Villa on Saturday 14 January. On Tuesday, 17 January 2017, their bodies were found in the neighbourhood of el Progreso in Buenaventura. Emilsen Manyoma was the leader of the Comunidades Construyendo Paz en los Territorios (Communities Building Peace in the Territories, CONPAZ) in Buenaventura. CONPAZ is an initiative of communities and organisations that live in territories where the armed conflict is taking place.

Repressive governments think that HRDs can be killed with impunity and that there will be few if any real consequences. As human rights standards are being rolled back in Poland and Hungary and the President of the Philippines is threatening to include HRDs in his «harvest» of killings, the human rights movement needs government champions who will combat this dangerous trend by re-stating their commitment to the human rights which have been built up at such cost over the last 60 years.  Governments should condemn every killing of a HRD as with every killing the prospects for building more just and equal societies are lessened.

CALOTO, Colombia — After a half-century of war, peace has come to this long-troubled region of Colombia, and the change has been terrifying.

Nick Miroff, Latin American Correspondent The Washington Post

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