PH still deadliest country for farmers, IPS, land activists
For the third straight year, the Philippines got the dubious distinction of being the deadliest country for farmers, farm workers, indigenous people and land rights activists in 2019, with 50 recorded victims of land-related killings, according to a yearend report by PAN Asia-pacific (Panap).
Colombia, with 27 victims, and Brazil, with nine, rounded up the top three list.
Panap monitored a total of 84 cases of killings and 108 victims of land conflicts and struggles in 14 countries from January to November this year. Of these, 36 involved indigenous people, 23 were land activists and 49 were either farmers or farm workers. The 50 recorded victims in the country made up 46.3 percent of the total number worldwide.
Land-related conflicts have also displaced 2,796 individuals in the Philippines, the highest number recorded globally. The report, released on International Human Rights Day on Tuesday, noted that 27 of the 38 killings in the country were carried out by state forces, including the police, military and paramilitary, following a national counterinsurgency campaign.
Such “counterterrorism” tactics have been used by governments to “legitimize” their attacks on progressive groups, the report said, citing the March 30 massacre of 14 farmers in Negros Island that “echoed the drumbeat of the government’s counterinsurgency operations.”
It added that China’s promise of extending aid and investments to the Philippines had forced government to displace indigenous people, since
“[p]opulist incumbents like President Duterte have sought to take advantage of these deals meant to seize agricultural and indigenous lands and resources in exchange for revenues.”
The Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment meanwhile called for more protection for environmental activists and defenders, as it noted that 46 such defenders were slain this year, 29 of them farmers and agricultural workers, nine were indigenous peoples and six forest rangers. “There is essentially zero resolution to all cases we have monitored since 2001,” the group said, as it urged the Commission on Human Rights to conduct a national inquiry on the rights violations connected to extractive businesses.