The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) in Region VII is conducting a motu propio probe on the brazen attempt against the life of lawyer Karen Quiñanola-Gonzales and her 19-year-old son. Atty. Quiñanola-Gonzales is a lawyer at the Cebu Port Authority and a member of the Free Legal Assistance Group.
According to reports, the lawyer was driving her car, accompanied by her son, when they were shot by riding-in-tandem gunmen along Hernan Cortes Street in Mandaue City at around 10 PM on 1 September 2022.
CHR vehemently decries this latest attempt against a lawyer and calls for swift action from all concerned authorities to ensure accountability of perpetrators. The Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers, an output of the Eighth United Nations Congress on the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders in 1990, underscores the importance of independent legal professionals in ensuring adequate protection of human rights, fundamental freedom, and furthering the ends of justice. It cannot be overemphasized that lawyers and judges deserve utmost protection and an enabling environment that will allow them to freely dispense their duties without the perpetual fear that it may lead to harmful and/or violent reprisal.
CHR similarly echoes the reiteration of the Supreme Court on the need to protect lawyers, judges, and the Judiciary as a whole which serves as “the bedrock on which the rule of law stands.” As the country commemorates the Rule of Law Month this September, CHR continues to denounce all violence and threats committed against lawyers and judges and affirms its commitment in helping investigate cases of possible human rights abuse and violations committed against them. Investigation of cases, including those handled by the Department of Justice and other law enforcement agencies, must also continue to be pursued to exact accountability and similarly serve as concrete basis for enacting rules and policies that will uphold the protection and welfare of all lawyers and judges. More expediently, the government must also ensure preventive mechanisms and protection, including passing a legislation, that will concretely address the continuing violence against legal professionals and all those working for justice and human rights. ###