NUPL brings attacks vs. judges, lawyers issue to UN

The National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL) in Geneva, Switzerland, has filed a complaint with the United Nations (UN) urging it to conduct an investigation into the killings of lawyers, judges, and prosecutors in the Philippines.

In the complaint, the NUPL said the UN must also ask the Philippine government to ensure accountability for human rights violations and fulfill its obligations under international and domestic human rights laws.

The complaint was filed by NUPL Secretary General Josalee Deinla with the office of UN Special Rapporteur on the Independence of Lawyers and Judges Margaret Satterthwaite.

According to Deinla, the NUPL has recorded 86 killings of lawyers, judges, and prosecutors out of 262 work-related attacks in the past 15 years.

Of the 262-work related attacks, 65% took place under the administration of former President Rodrigo Duterte, according to the NUPL.

Meanwhile, among the fatalities, five were members of the NUPL who represented indigenous peoples, peasants, farmers, workers, environment advocates, political prisoners, and human rights defenders.

These included NUPL SOCCSKSARGEN chapter vice-chairperson Juan Macababbad, who was shot to death outside his house in South Cotabato in September 2021.

The NUPL said that 61% of attacks appear to be linked to the handling of human rights and public interest cases.

According to the NUPL, the harassment of lawyers has also gone “unabated” under the current administration.

Red-tagging

The NUPL also cited the red-tagging of Manila Regional Trial Court Judge Marlo Magdoza-Malagar after she dismissed a proscription case seeking to declare the Commission Party of the Philippines and the New People’s Army as terrorist groups.

“The NUPL lawyers were falsely branded as ‘urban operatives’ of the underground movement while the NUPL itself has been profiled as a “communist terrorist group,” it said.

Lawyers handling public interest cases have also been allegedly subject to surveillance by suspected military agents, the NUPL said.

“These attacks on officers of the court have to stop once and for all. If lawyers are hampered from freely and independently exercising their profession and if judges are threatened for their judicial decisions, access to justice and judicial independence will suffer,” Deinla said.

Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla is set to leave for Geneva, Switzerland on Friday to attend the Universal Periodic Review (UPR), a peer-review mechanism of the United Nations Human Rights Council. —Joahna Lei Casilao/KBK, GMA Integrated News