MANILA, Philippines — “How long must they wait to be free?!”
That was the question posed by United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur Irene Khan on Sunday after visiting two detained human rights defenders in Tacloban City.
Khan, who is the UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression, visited Marielle Domequil and Alexander Abinguna at the Tacloban City Jail as part of her mission in the Philippines.
Following the visit, the UN rapporteur posted on X (formerly twitter) to vent her frustrations on the situation.
“We are the only int’l visitors so far allowed by the #Philippine govt to visit them!” Khan’s post reads.
👇🏼#journalist #Frenchie Cumpio #HumanRights defenders Marielle Domequil & Alexander Abinguna in Tacloban City Jail. We are only int’l visitors so far allowed by #Philippines govt to visit them! Arrested in Feb 2020, trial still dragging on. How long must they wait to be free?! pic.twitter.com/C0w72Y2v4A
— Irene Khan (@Irenekhan) January 27, 2024
“Arrested in Feb 2020, trial still dragging on. How long must they wait to be free?!” her post continued.
Domequil and Abinguna were arrested in two separate operations by the police and military along with two other rights defenders and a journalist for allegedly being members of a left-leaning group.
Ever since the arrest of the so-called Leyte 5, rights and independent media organizations have been calling for their release.
Recently, independent media practitioners trooped to the Department of Justice to urge the department to junk the “trumped up” charges against the defenders including Tacloban-based journalist Frenchie Mae Cumpio.
Khan is expected to be in the Philippines until February 2, and will later release her initial report on the status of freedom of opinion and expression in the country.