UN experts welcome PH ruling on Tauli-Corpuz, 3 others’ terrorist tag

The UN experts said Tauli-Corpuz’s inclusion in the list was considered an act of retaliation for statements she made about the Philippines in her mandate as Special Rapporteur. (File photo By Johannes Rohr – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0)

MANILA — Two United Nations (UN) human rights experts welcomed a Manila court ruling that declared UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, and three others as “non-parties” to a petition, seeking to declare the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and the New People’s Army (NPA) as “terrorist organizations”.

On July 27, the Manila Regional Trial Court (RTC) handed the ruling in relation to the Department of Justice (DOJ) petition filed last February, where Tauli-Corpuz and more than 600 others, were accused as terrorists and alleged members of the CPP and NPA.

The UN experts said Tauli-Corpuz’s inclusion in the list was considered an act of retaliation for statements she made about the Philippines in her mandate as Special Rapporteur.

Dainius Pūras, Chair of the Coordination Committee of Special Procedures, noted that member states of the Human Rights Council have nominated independent experts to assess the situation of human rights around the world.

“These member states, therefore, have a corresponding responsibility to secure and respect the authority and legitimacy of the UN experts, and ensure that they can fulfill their mandates in a safe and unimpeded manner, without any intimidation,” he said.

Meanwhile, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders Michel Forst said the inclusion of Tauli-Corpuz and other human rights defenders in the list is tantamount to “intimidation and harassment.”

Both UN experts asked the government to remove all human rights defenders from the “terrorist” list.

“While we welcome this decision, we are still deeply concerned about the continued naming of many others, including human rights defenders, in the petition, as this tags them as terrorists,” they said.

Forst said removing a few high-profile names from the list “will not make them stop drawing attention to the situation of the others, whose physical safety and integrity are still under immense pressure.”