European Parliament resolution of 19 April 2018 on the Philippines (2018/2662(RSP))
Date: 2018-04-19
Institutions: European Parliament
Subjects: Philippines, death penalty, detention before trial, drug traffic, fight against crime, government violence, international human rights law, international humanitarian law, sexual violence








C_2019390EN.01010401.xml










18.11.2019   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 390/104






P8_TA(2018)0175
Philippines
European Parliament resolution of 19 April 2018 on the Philippines (2018/2662(RSP))
(2019/C 390/13)

The European Parliament,







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having regard to its previous resolutions on the situation in the Philippines, in particular those of 15 September 2016 (1) and of 16 March 2017 (2),










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having regard to the Statement by the EEAS Spokesperson of 16 March 2018 on the Philippines and the International Criminal Court,










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having regard to the statements by the EU Delegation and the spokesperson of the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy (VP/HR),










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having regard to the Framework Agreement on Partnership and Cooperation between the European Union and its Member States, of the one part, and the Republic of the Philippines, of the other part,










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having regard to the joint staff working document of the Commission and the VP/HR of 19 January 2018 on the EU Special Incentive Arrangement for Sustainable Development and Good Governance (GSP+) assessment of the Philippines covering the period 2016-2017 (SWD(2018)0032),










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having regard to the statements by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, regarding the accusations by the Government of the Philippines that the UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and other human rights defenders were involved in terrorist activities,










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having regard to the outcome of the ASEAN-EU commemorative summit on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the establishment of ASEAN-EU dialogue relations, and to the ASEAN-EU Plan of Action (2018-2022),










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having regard to the statement by the Chair of the European Parliament’s Subcommittee on Human Rights of 23 February 2018 that ‘keeping Senator De Lima in prison without charge is unacceptable’,










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having regard to the diplomatic relations between the Philippines and the EU (formerly the European Economic Community (EEC)) established on 12 May 1964 with the appointment of the Philippine Ambassador to the EEC,










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having regard to the status of the Philippines as a founding member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN),










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having regard to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child,










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having regard to the International Convention for the Protection of all Persons from Enforced Disappearance,










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having regard to the EU Guidelines on Human Rights,










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having regard to the Rome Statute,










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having regard to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948,










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having regard to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR),










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having regard to Rules 135(5) and 123(4) of its Rules of Procedure,










A.


whereas the Philippines and the EU have longstanding diplomatic, economic, cultural and political relations; whereas through ratification of the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement (PCA), the European Union and the Philippines have reaffirmed their joint commitment to the principles of good governance, democracy, the rule of law, human rights, the promotion of social and economic development, and to peace and security in the region;










B.


whereas since 1 July 2016, around 12 000 people, including women and children, have, reportedly, been killed in the Philippines during an ongoing campaign against drugs, internationally proclaimed as President Duterte’s ‘war on drugs’; whereas President Duterte has vowed to continue his anti-drug campaign until the end of his presidential term in 2022; whereas the EU remains deeply concerned about the high number of killings associated with the campaign against illegal drugs in the Philippines;










C.


whereas the UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, a Philippine national, has been accused of terrorism and, along with 600 other individuals including indigenous leaders and human rights defenders, was put on a list of terrorist organisations by the Philippines Government in March 2018; whereas UN experts enjoy legal immunity; whereas the accusations followed Tauli-Corpuz’s condemnation of the army’s attacks on the indigenous Lumad peoples in Mindanao; whereas Tauli-Corpuz noted the use of harassment, torture and arrests against indigenous people peacefully protecting their property;










D.


whereas Senator Leila De Lima, a human rights activist and the highest-profile critic of Philippine President Duterte’s anti-drugs campaign, was removed from her position as chairperson of the Senate Committee on Justice and Human Rights on 19 September 2016 and was arrested on 23 February 2017; whereas Senator De Lima led the investigations into the extrajudicial killings in Davao while President Duterte was mayor of the city; whereas there are serious concerns that the offences Senator De Lima has been charged with are almost entirely fabricated and politically motivated;










E.


whereas the targeting of indigenous peoples by the Philippines authorities is a serious concern; whereas, at the end of December, the UN warned about the massive human rights violations suffered by Lumads on the Philippine island of Mindanao; whereas UN experts estimate that, since October 2017, at least 2 500 Lumads have been displaced; whereas it is feared that some of these attacks are motivated by unfounded suspicions that the Lumads are involved with terrorist groups, or by their resistance to mining activities on ancestral lands;










F.


whereas the Philippines signed the Rome Statute on 28 December 2000 and ratified the Statute on 30 August 2011; whereas the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) has opened a preliminary examination of the situation in the Philippines, which will analyse crimes allegedly committed in the country since at least 1 July 2016 in the context of the ‘war on drugs’ campaign launched by the Government of the Philippines;










G.


whereas on 19 March 2018 the ICC was officially notified by the UN that the Philippines had, on 17 March 2018, deposited a written notification of withdrawal from the Rome Statute;










H.


whereas the Philippines House of Representatives approved a bill on 7 March 2017 to reinstate the death penalty; whereas the bill still requires senatorial approval before the president can sign it into law; whereas President Duterte has actively campaigned for the reinstatement of the death penalty; whereas reintroduction of the death penalty would be in clear violation of the Second Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), to which the Philippines is party as of 2007;










I.


whereas Philippines ranks 111 out of 180 countries in terms of corruption in the Corruption Ranking published annually by Transparency International;










J.


whereas there is an increasingly shrinking space for civil society; whereas human rights defenders are reportedly facing an increasingly hostile environment in the Philippines; whereas President Duterte has made statements encouraging police attacks against human rights groups and advocates;










K.


whereas persons who make public statements against the extrajudicial killings face the risk of being banned from entering the Philippines;










L.


whereas President Duterte has made a number of derogatory and demeaning statements about women and has repeatedly justified rape and called for the shooting of women;










M.


whereas human rights defenders, journalists and activists routinely face threats, harassment, intimidation and violence for seeking to expose allegations of extra-judicial killings and other human rights abuses in the Philippines; whereas the LGTBI community faces continuous harassment;










N.


whereas the Philippines is a beneficiary of the European Union’s Generalised Scheme of Preferences Plus (GSP+);










O.


whereas the EU-Philippines Partnership and Cooperation Agreement calls for the establishment of a meaningful human rights dialogue in the form of a Working Group on Human Rights;












1.


Calls on the Government of the Philippines to put an immediate end to the extrajudicial killings in the pretext of a ‘war on drugs’; strongly condemns the high number of extrajudicial killings by the armed forces and vigilante groups related to the anti-drug campaign; expresses its condolences to the families of the victims; expresses grave concern over credible reports to the effect that the Philippine police force is falsifying evidence to justify extrajudicial killings, and that it is overwhelmingly the urban poor who are being targeted;












2.


Notes the government’s recent initiatives to ensure a more unified and integrated approach to anti-drug efforts based on enforcement, justice, advocacy and rehabilitation and integration; welcomes Senate Resolution 516 filed in the Philippines on 25 September 2017 urging the authorities to ‘undertake the necessary steps to stop the spate of killings, especially of our children’; calls on the government to prioritise the fight against drug trafficking networks and big drug barons over tracking down small-scale consumers; stresses that the authorities of the Philippines must pursue their fight against illicit drugs with a focus on public health and in full compliance with due process, in line with national and international law; invites the government to adopt specific non-violent policies;












3.


Invites the authorities to cooperate fully with the UN Special Procedures; calls on the authorities of the Philippines to immediately carry out impartial and meaningful investigations into these extrajudicial killings and to prosecute and bring all perpetrators to justice; calls for the EU and all its Member States to support a United Nations-led investigation into the killings in the Philippines and for those accountable to be brought to justice;












4.


Reiterates its call on the authorities of the Philippines to release Senator Leila De Lima and to provide her with adequate security and sanitary conditions whilst in detention; further reiterates its call on the authorities to guarantee a fair trial and to drop all politically motivated charges against her; calls for the EU to continue to closely monitor the case against Senator De Lima;












5.


Calls on the Philippine authorities to remove human rights defenders from the terrorist list, dropping all charges and allowing them to carry out their activities in peace; reminds the Philippine authorities that Ms Victoria Tauli-Corpuz benefits from immunity under the Convention on Privileges and Immunities of 1946;












6.


Welcomes the initiative of the ICC to inquire into the allegations of crimes against humanity in the context of the killings during the ‘war on drugs’; calls on the Government of the Philippines to cooperate fully with the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court in its preliminary examination of the Philippines; strongly regrets the decision of the Government of the Philippines to initiate its withdrawal from the Rome Statute; calls on the Government to reverse this decision;












7.


Reiterates its deep concern about the decision of the House of Representatives to reintroduce the death penalty; calls again on the authorities of the Philippines to immediately halt ongoing proceedings to reinstate the death penalty; recalls that the EU considers capital punishment to be a cruel and inhuman punishment which fails to act as a deterrent to criminal behaviour; calls on the Government of the Philippines to refrain from lowering the minimum age for criminal responsibility;












8.


Is alarmed about increasing levels of corruption under the current Philippine administration; calls on the Philippine authorities to step up efforts to tackle corruption effectively; underscores the importance of respecting fundamental principles of democracy and rule of law in this respect;












9.


Condemns all threats, harassment, intimidation and violence against those seeking to expose allegations of extra-judicial killings and other human rights abuses in the Philippines, including human rights defenders, journalists and activists; urges the Government of the Philippines to ensure that human rights defenders, journalists and activists can carry out their work in an enabling environment and without fear of reprisals;












10.


Urges the Philippines to stop banning the entry into the country of persons who are perceived as critics of President Duterte’s policies;












11.


Urges the Philippines to observe its obligations under international law to protect the human rights of indigenous peoples, including in the context of armed conflict;












12.


Condemns all forms of violence against women and recalls that such violence constitutes a serious violation of the human rights and dignity of women and girls; strongly condemns President Duterte’s demeaning and misogynist statements about women fighters; reminds the President that encouraging state forces to commit sexual violence during armed conflict is in violation of international humanitarian law; calls on the President to treat women with respect and to refrain from inciting violence against women;












13.


Encourages the EU and its Member States to consider calling for the Republic of the Philippines to be removed from the United Nations Human Rights Council before its current membership term expires at the end of 2018;












14.


Reminds the authorities of the Philippines of their obligations under international law, the GSP+ scheme and the PCA, notably with regard to human rights, and of the consequences of failure to comply; stresses that, while the progress in the implementation of the GSP+ conventions is largely positive, strong concerns remain around human rights violations related to the war on drugs; recalls, in this respect, its previous resolution of 16 March 2017on the Philippines, and calls on the Commission and the External Action Service to use all available instruments, including the PCA, to persuade the Philippines to put an end to extrajudicial killings related to the anti-drug campaign and, in the absence of substantive improvements, to initiate the procedural steps which could lead to the temporary withdrawal of the GSP+ preferences; urges the EU to use all available instruments to assist the Government of the Philippines in respecting its international human rights obligations;












15.


Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the President, the Government and Parliament of the Philippines, the Vice-President of the Commission / High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the Council, the Commission, the parliaments and governments of the Member States, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and the governments of the ASEAN Member States.






(1)  Texts adopted, P8_TA(2016)0349.

(2)  Texts adopted, P8_TA(2017)0088.