The adoption by the International Labor Organization (ILO) on June 16, 2011, of a new, groundbreaking treaty to extend key labor protections to domestic workers will protect millions of people who have been without guarantees of their basic rights, Human Rights Watch said today.

In this seventh interview in the series, Rita Melecio, a staff member of Task Force Detainees of the Philippines (TFDP) in Mindanao, talks about the obstacles in prosecuting the policemen and soldiers for charges of torture. The manner in which they suppressed evidence, from the moment a victim is arrested, taken to a doctor and remanded to jail are so sophisticated that it would not be possible to file a case.

Senator Loren Legarda pushed for the inclusion of human rights courses in all public and private schools in the country to ensure that all students are aware of their rights and to prevent them from being victims of human rights abuse.

As the peasant movement in the country continues to call for the immediate release of Randall “Ka Randy” Echanis, deputy secretary general of Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) who has been detained for exactly a year today, the Katipunan ng mga Samahang Magbubukid sa Timog Katagalugan (Kasama-TK) is joining the leaders of KMP, friends and families of Ka Randy in …

The umbrella group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan today said that the call made by US ambassador to the Philippines Kristie Kenney to punish human rights violators was “hollow and hypocritical.” The group instead demanded an end to US aid for human rights violators in the Philippines.

Attorney Clara Rita A. Padilla, Executive Director of EnGendeRights, hails U.S. President Obama’s act last Friday, January 23, in rescinding the Global Gag Rule. Under the policy, organizations that received USAID funding were prohibited from using their own funds to advocate for safe and legal abortion and provide for life-saving safe abortions services.
Atty. Padilla said, “The rescission works towards …

The National Union of People’s Lawyers, in a statement, described as a “bold decision” a Cordillera court’s decision finding “substantial evidence” to link President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and several of her men to the abduction and disappearance of activist James Balao.

HUMAN RIGHTS  At around 7 in the evening on Tuesday, unidentified men killed 39-year-old environmental activist leader Fernando “Dodong” Sarmiento in Compostela Valley Province. He was shot five times.

HUMAN RIGHTS  By Arthur L. Allad-iw |  Lawmakers in the House of Representatives have filed a resolution to investigate the arrest and continuing detention of human rights and labor lawyer Remigio Saladero Jr.