FORUM-ASIA and member organisation the Philippines Alliance of Human Rights Advocates (PAHRA) have expressed deep disappointment over the selection process of the Commission of Human Rights (CHR) Chairperson, which has become highly politicised and lacks transparency, and which the Philippines government has used to salvage its poor reputation and track record.
Joint press statement
Human rights groups express disappointment with the selection process of the CHR chairperson
(Bangkok and Manila, 15 May, 2008) FORUM-ASIA and the Philippines Alliance of Human Rights Advocates (PAHRA) express deep disappointment over the selection process of the Commission of Human Rights (CHR) Chairperson.
According to the news reports received today, Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has appointed Ms. Leila de Lima as chairperson of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) of the Philippines. Ms De Lima is replacing the outgoing Chairperson Purificacion Quisumbing, whose term expired last week.
The sudden news of the appointment has caused serious concerns about the appointment process of the highest officials of the Philippines’ independent human rights body. This is particularly important in the context of criticism of the Philippine human rights record in the past few years, particularly for the high number of extrajudicial executions and disappearances.
The ongoing appointment process has been characterised by a lack of transparency in terms of who the candidates for CHR chairperson and its commissioners will be. We fear that it is becoming a very politicised process, which the government has used to salvage its poor reputation and track record.
We see the appointment as a contradictory action to the Paris Principles, the international standard.1 Under the composition and guarantees of independence and pluralism section, it mentions that “the composition [shall involve persons] involved in the protection and promotion of human rights”. We note that Ms De Lima is well known as an election lawyer than for practice in the human rights field. We hope that subsequent appointments would advance the independence and effectiveness of the CHR in protecting and promoting human rights in the Philippines.
We therefore would like to call the Philippines government to:
• Ensure that the appointment of the remaining three commissioners be transparent, including to ensure that they have to possess an adequate human rights background and experiences, especially to ensure that there must be the inclusion of representatives of “non-governmental organisations responsible for human rights … trade unions, concerned social and professional organisations”.2
• Reform the appointment processes of the CHR to be more transparent, particularly for an open and participatory process among relevant stakeholders.
• Ensure the needed infrastructure for the commission to conduct its activities independently from government interference and effectively including the adequate funding.
The Philippines government in 2007 pledged “to strengthen the Commission on Human Rights [as] an independent constitutional body responsible of […] monitoring of the human rights situation in the country and investigation of cases of human rights violations”.3 As an elected member of the UN Human Rights Council, the Philippines must fulfil this pledge by making sure that the CHR will be fully independent and can function, and should not instead weaken the body by installing a person without adequate human rights experience.
It is most important for the CHR to be headed by efficient chairpersons and commissioners with human rights experience given that the CHR as one of the four existing National Human Rights Institutions will have to play a key role in pushing for the establishment of an efficient ASEAN human rights body, under the ASEAN Charter.
For more information, please contact:
• Mr. Yap Swee Seng, Acting Executive Director, FORUM-ASIA, +60 122015272, or [email protected]
• Ms. Yuyun Wahyuningrum, East Asia Programme Manager, +66 879914451, or [email protected]
• Mr. Max de Mesa, Chairperson, PAHRA, +63 2 436 2633,or [email protected]
• Mr. Renato Mabunga, Secretary General, PAHRA, +63 2 436 2633,or [email protected]
1. Principles relating to the Status of National Institutions (The Paris Principles), Adopted by UN General Assembly resolution 48/134 of 20 December 1993.
2. Ibid. Section 1(a) under the Composition and Guarantees of Independence and Pluralism
3. Note Verbale dated 18 April 2007 from the Permanent Mission of the Philippines to the United Nations addressed to the President of the General Assembly, A/61/882, 26 April, 2007.
