A number of individuals listed as 'de facto terrorists' who have been long-standing partners of the United Nations

Cases
Location of case in SG report
2018-086-001
Relevant SG report
Year of the report
2018
Country Geolocation

Latitude: 12.879721

Longitude: 121.774017

Country Geolocation (linked Cases)
Philippines
From Region
UN body that raised the case prior to the SG report
  • Assistant Secretary-General
  • UN Treaty Bodies: CERD
  • UN Special Procedures: Thematic
Dates of prior UN action
4 May 2018; 8 May 2018; 18 May 2018; 8 June 2018
Type of record
Unnamed individual/group/organization
Was the victim a foreign national?
No
Was the victim a minor?
No
Was the victim a civil servant or member of the security forces or of the judiciary?
No
Reported trigger of reprisal

A number of these individuals have been long-standing partners of the United Nations who believe their inclusion on this list is in part due to their international advocacy with the United Nations, including the Human Rights Council, the universal periodic review, the treaty bodies, and the special procedures.

Engagement with UN body
  • UN Special Procedures: thematic
  • UN Treaty Bodies: UN Treaty Bodies - General
Dates of engagement
unclear
Type of attempted engagement
  • Unclear
Dates of mentioned reprisals
February 2018
Reprisal information

February 2018 petition of the Department of Justice to a Manila court in February 2018, seeking to declare the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and the New People’s Army (NPA) as “terrorist” organizations under the Republic Act 9372 or the Human Security Act 2007 (the anti-terrorism law). The petition includes a list of over 600 individuals who are labelled as de facto “terrorists.” It is reported that among these are least 80 recognized human rights defenders, indigenous peoples’ representatives, and representatives of community-based organizations. This is the first time the Human Security Act of 2007 has been used against numerous activists.

Types of reprisals suffered
  • Defamation / Defamation campaign
  • Threats/Intimidations (incl. "fear of reprisal")
Alleged/likely perpetrators
State actors
Was the reprisal based on new legislation?
Yes
Does the report make general comment about country’s environment for engagement with UN?
No
Is the country cited for a "pattern of reprisal" in the context of this case?
No
Is a pattern of reprisals mentioned otherwise in the context of this case?
No
Does the report cite "self-censorship" as an issue in the context of this case?
No
How many times has the case been followed up in subsequent SG reports?
1
In which SG report was this case followed up on? 0
2019
Follow up information provided in SG report 0

In the 2018 report of the Secretary-General it was noted that multiple actors expressed concern at the February 2018 petition of the Department of Justice to a Manila court which sought to declare the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and the New People’s Army (NPA) as “terrorist” organizations (A/HRC/39/41, para. 62 and Annex I, paras. 86–89). In particular, they noted that the petition included a list of over 600 individuals labelled as de facto “terrorists,” among them recognized human rights defenders, indigenous peoples’ representatives, and representatives of community-based organizations, a number of which had been long-standing partners of the United Nations. 82. In July 2018, the Manila Regional Trial Court reportedly requested the removal of multiple names from the list based on a petition, and in January 2019, the Department of Justice amended the original petition to an abridged list. Multiple individuals still report being targets for having previously been listed, including subjected to harassment, surveillance and stigmatization.

Followup Trends 0
Significant positive and negative developments
Did the government respond? 0
No