[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 91 (Monday, June 4, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2962-S2963]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                INDIGENOUS ACTIVISTS IN THE PHILIPPINES

  Mr. LEAHY. Mr. President, I want to speak about a subject that other 
Senators should be aware of.
  Many Members of Congress have visited the Philippines, a country with 
which we share a long history of strategic, economic, cultural, and 
other interests. We also know that, for many years, the Philippine 
Government has been fighting an extremist insurgency in Mindanao. The 
United States has been supporting the Philippine Government in that 
effort.
  According to information I have received, on February 21, 2018, the 
Philippines State Prosecutor filed a legal petition to declare over 600 
persons as ``terrorists,'' alleging that they are members of the 
Communist party of the Philippines, CPP, and the New Peoples Army, NPA, 
two groups designated by the United States as foreign terrorist 
organizations. The list was published after the collapse of the peace 
negotiations between CPP-NPA and the Philippine Government last year.
  By itself, that might not be objectionable. There are terrorists in 
the Philippines. The problem with this ``terrorist list'' is that the 
government is apparently using it to persecute people who have nothing 
to do with terrorism, but who have engaged in legitimate, peaceful 
dissent and protests in opposition to government policies that threaten 
their way of life.
  The list includes a number of indigenous rights defenders who, as far 
as I am aware, are not at all affiliated with the CPP-NPA. These 
individuals are known and respected nationally and internationally for 
their consistent, lawful efforts to protect human rights for the most 
vulnerable and marginalized populations in the Philippines. By 
criminalizing their work and including these activists on an official 
terrorist list, the administration of President Duterte is endangering 
the lives of these and other human rights defenders and community 
leaders. It is a misuse of the justice system to deny their rights to 
free expression, association, and assembly--rights we take for granted 
and that are enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
  The affected individuals are now subject to warrantless arrests, 
surveillance, and freezing of assets. Their lives and the lives of 
their families are in danger. Human Rights Watch has described the 
petition as ``a virtual government hit list,'' noting the ``long 
history in the Philippines of state security forces and pro-government 
militias assassinating those labeled as NPA members or supporters.'' In 
March 2018 alone, there were reportedly at least three cases of 
extrajudicial killings of indigenous leaders, all known for their work 
to organize communities for the protection of indigenous lands.
  Two of the more high-profile targeted activists, Joan Carling and 
Victoria Tauli Corpuz, were fortunate to have been out of the country 
when the list was published. Carling is an indigenous activist from the 
Cordillera region in the Philippines. She has been working on 
indigenous issues at the grassroots and international levels for more 
than 20 years. Ms. Carling has been elected twice as the Secretary 
General of the Asia Indigenous Peoples Pact, AIPP, representing AIPP's 
47 member-organizations in 14 countries. She was appointed by the U.N. 
Economic and Social Council as an indigenous expert-member of the U.N. 
Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues for 2014-16.
  Victoria Tauli Corpuz was appointed as the U.N. Special Rapporteur on 
the rights of indigenous peoples by the U.N. Human Rights Council in 
2014. She is an indigenous leader from the

[[Page S2963]]

Kankana-ey Igorot people of the Cordillera region in the Philippines. 
As an indigenous activist, she has worked for over three decades to 
protect indigenous rights and as an advocate for women's rights.
  As a consequence of the Duterte administration's action, these women 
suddenly have no home to return to. They cannot risk going back to the 
Philippines. Still, they are fortunate compared to those targeted 
leaders who remain in the country. The terrorist list also includes 
members of indigenous communities in Mindanao who were displaced from 
their lands in President Duterte's antiterrorism sweep and now live 
precariously in evacuation camps.
  Much of this reportedly has to do with powerful business interests in 
collusion with corrupt officials in the government. In the recent past, 
the Philippine Government has fast-tracked priority infrastructure 
development projects. Some of these projects are reportedly planned to 
be built on ancestral indigenous lands, despite opposition from 
indigenous communities and the failure to secure indigenous peoples' 
free, prior, and informed consent as required by Philippine law and as 
contained in the 2007 U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous 
Peoples. Indigenous leaders have objected to these projects, insisting 
that the government respect their rights and obtain their consent for 
projects that affect them.
  The United States has long supported efforts of the Philippine 
Government and civil society to unlock the country's potential to 
achieve inclusive, sustainable economic growth. As ranking member of 
the Appropriations Subcommittee on the Department of State and Foreign 
Operations, I have supported programs to help the Philippines combat 
poverty, strengthen democratic institutions, enhance maritime security, 
and protect the rights of its people.
  Criminalizing these indigenous rights defenders would reverse 
progress the country has made and threaten the functioning of civil 
society which is fundamental to any democracy. Joan Carling, Victoria 
Tauli Corpuz, and other indigenous leaders and activists who from all 
indications are guilty of nothing more than defending their territories 
and cultures do not belong on a ``terrorist'' list. Instead, the 
government should be defending their rights and protecting their safety 
and the safety of other indigenous leaders and human rights activists.
  Our own government, the Departments of State and Defense and the U.S. 
Agency for International Development, as well as international 
financial institutions we support, should ensure that development 
activities are carried out in accordance with the rights of local 
communities, including the right of indigenous peoples to free, prior, 
and informed consent.
  We all oppose terrorism wherever it occurs, but our collective 
approach to preventing terrorism has too often made the problem worse, 
especially when the result is the curtailment of basic freedoms. 
Labeling as ``terrorists'' political opponents or civil society 
activists who do not advocate or engage in violence and who, to the 
contrary, have been threatened and attacked for defending their rights 
is one example of this, and it is an increasingly common tactic of 
governments; yet there are few if any ways more likely to cause people 
to resort to violence than by misusing government power to suppress 
legitimate dissent. Far from stopping terrorism, adopting such abusive 
tactics sets back our collective efforts against terrorism.

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