UNSR fed with ‘false’ info on Duterte admin’s rights record
MALACAÑANG on Thursday branded as “reckless and irresponsible” a recent call issued by United Nations Special Rapporteur (UNSR) Michael Forst to the Duterte administration to end all forms of violence against humanrights defenders in the country.
Presidential Spokesman Salvador Panelo, at the same time, however, urged local groups to stop feeding the UNSR with “false” information on the Duterte administration’s human-rights track record.
Forst’s call, the Palace official added, “not only demeans the integrity of the UNSR system but the entire UN mechanism itself.”
Panelo added: “We challenge these local groups that have been feeding Mr. Forst with false information to submit their alleged cases of violations against their members to proper authorities such as the interagency committee [created] under Administrative Order 35 [s.2012], which is in charge of handling cases of extrajudicial killings, torture, enforced disappearances and other grave violations of the right to life and liberty,”
“Unless they can properly do so, we stand by our firm admonition of these groups to refrain from making a fool of these UNSRs, a mockery of the UN, as well as using their allegations as leverage to secure financial resources from overtrusting funding institutions,” he added.