International rights group condemns killing of activist Zara Alvarez

Negros-based activist Zara Alvarez (Photo from the Facebook account of Cristina Palabay of Karapatan)

MANILA, Philippines—International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines on Wednesday denounced the killing of activist leader Zara Alvarez in Bacolod.

“We mourn the killing of human rights worker Zara Alvarez, a brave and staunch defender of farmers and Filipino rights,” said ICHRP in a statement.

The police report on the incident said that unidentified perpetrators gunned down Alvarez along  Sta. Maria Street in Eroreco, Brgy. Mandalagan, Bacolod City on Monday.

ICHRP chairperson Peter Murphy hit President Rodrigo Duterte’s administration for the brazen killings of human rights defenders such as Alvarez, among others, that have happened under its watch.

“Human rights defenders, farmers, farmworkers and civilians are being slayed one after the other with brazen impunity. The Duterte government’s policy of political killing merits international condemnation. These are our colleagues and fellow human rights advocates who are being killed like cattle,” said Murphy.

Alvarez was a local community health worker, worked as a paralegal for national human rights alliance Karapatan.

The 39-year-old single mother was the 13th member of Karapatan murdered under the Duterte administration and the second case of political killing in a week after peasant leader and peace consultant Randy Echanis was gunned down on August 10.

Alvarez was one of the paralegals who helped bring the cases of human rights violations in Negros to the United Nations Human Rights Council and was also instrumental in bringing in a delegation of lawmakers, church people, and trade unionists to Bacolod in December 2019.

“This is so tragic. Zara was a brave defender of the poor and their rights. We witnessed in our visit in Negros her undeniable dedication to human rights work. We extend our condolences to the bereaved family and colleagues,” says ICHRP vice-chairperson Rev. Jeong Jin Woo who was part of the delegation.

“We invite everyone to condemn the ongoing crackdown against activists and civilians in the Philippines. Let us honor Zara and the hundreds of slain community leaders by incessantly seeking justice and accountability. We are one with the Filipino people in this battle against tyranny,” says Murphy.

CFC