MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) appealed to the government to heed the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights’ recommendations on “fidelity to human rights standards” after the recent killings of two human rights advocates in the country.
In a previous statement, the United Nations Human Rights Office encouraged the government to undertake an “independent, thorough and transparent” probe into the killings of peasant leader Randall “Randy” Echanis in Novaliches, Quezon City and human rights defender Zara Alvarez in Bacolod.
“CHR notes that an investigation is being conducted on the recent killings. Social justice and human rights are the prime duty of the State. We hope that the government demonstrates its fidelity to human rights standards by being receptive to recommendations from independent human rights bodies and organizations,” CHR spokeswoman Jacqueline de Guia said in a statement on Saturday.
The commission also hopes the government will heed the repeated call on taking concrete steps to find justice in the killings of the human rights activists.
Palace previously denied that it ordered the police force to prohibit the release of data on killings of activists from the CHR.