The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) recognises the report of Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra on the said progress of the inter-agency review panel investigating cases involving deaths allegedly linked to the government’s anti-drug campaign, as well as the developments on the United Nations (UN) Joint Program on Human Rights.

To recall, the UN Joint Program on Human Rights, in particular, was extended through a resolution issued by the UN Human Rights Council in September 2020 to address the findings of the UN Human Rights Office of “widespread and systematic killing of thousands of alleged drug suspects” and other forms of human rights violations in the country. The said report also underscored the “persistent impunity and formidable barriers to accessing justice” that need to be urgently addressed.

This cooperative stance by the government with the UN is a positive act towards improving the human rights situation in the country. More than compliance, actions towards greater accountability for human rights violations committed should be seen in pursuit of the welfare of the victims.

As such, we continue to encourage the government to extend this dedication as the Philippine case at the International Criminal Court is set to move to the preliminary investigation phase.

CHR continues to be open to any form of cooperation with the government in addressing the challenges to the people’s rights and dignity, including through the conduct of independent probes for alleged human rights violations, in line with our mandate as the country’s national human rights institution.