PH Tells Human Rights Council: Do Not Politicize, Weaponize Human Rights

Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter S. Cayetano addressed the High Level Segment of the 37th Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva.

27 February 2018 GENEVA — Reiterating its readiness to have its human rights record scrutinized, the Philippines today asked the United Nations Human Rights Council to listen to its side and not just to critics who have politicized and even weaponized the issue.

“We have been called upon to cooperate with the mechanisms of the Human Rights Council, we have always cooperated, and today reaffirm our readiness to cooperate,” Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter S. Cayetano said in his remarks during the High Level Segment of the 37th Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council.

“Constructive engagement in a multilateral context is badly needed in our world today. We need to engage and act and not merely name and shame,” Secretary Cayetano told the 47-member body.

In his remarks, Secretary Cayetano underscored to member-states the reason why President Duterte launched his campaign against the illegal drug trade, which he said was meant “to save lives, to preserve families, to protect communities and stop the country from sliding into a narco state.”

“As a sovereign nation, we deserve respect and even support for our right to life and liberty, our sovereign right to self-determination, to make our people safe and secure from all threats, terrorism, corruption and criminality,” he pointed out.

Secretary Cayetano also echoed the statement of United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guttierez who urged council members on Monday to “speak up for human rights in an impartial way without double standards… and not allow (it) to be instrumentalized as a political tool.”

“When does the quest for human rights become a human wrong? It is when human rights is politicized and weaponized,” Secretary Cayetano said in his remarks that were well-received by those in the council chamber, particularly from representatives of ASEAN member-states.

In response to earlier calls for the Philippines to submit itself to investigation, the Secretary expressed Manila’s readiness but said it is imperative that all UN special rapporteurs strictly observe the special procedures code of conduct and methods of work and avoid politicizing the issue.

“When a UN Special Rapporteur cries out, like the Queen in Alice in Wonderland, “First the judgment, then the trial”, when she culls evidence only for what might support her prejudgment, he or she loses the moral high ground and is stripped of any credibility,” the Secretary said.

“All we ask for is fairness. There are 7.5 billion people in the world; send anyone except one who has already prejudged us, and who, by any measure, cannot be considered independent and More so, objective,” the Secretary said.

“How will the honorable members of this Council convince countries to work with it if there is a perception of prejudice and prejudgment?” the Secretary asked, adding that other member-states have likewise expressed their concerns about the conduct of certain mandate holders.

Secretary Cayetano also called out non-government organizations who he earlier said have likewise politicized the issue by waging a campaign of misinformation against the Philippines.

“We will not allow these NGOs to portray an unfair and unjust image of our country nor will we let them question the strength of our democracy,” the Secretary said.

“Some of them have politicized and weaponized the issue for their own gain, putting their political and economic advocacies ahead of genuine human rights advocacies,” he said. END