CASES of human rights violations in Negros Occidental have increased in 2022, the local office of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) said Tuesday, January 31.
At least 81 human rights cases were reported in the province last year, CHR-Negros Occidental officer-in-charge Vincent Parra said.
Of the figure, 64 were considered extrajudicial killings, with 30 of these cases being found to be drug-related, he said.
Others were agrarian issue and armed conflicts.
According to CHR, human rights cases included violations of the right to life, which included murder, homicide, torture, enforced disappearance, and shootout.
Other human rights complaints include violations of the right to liberty and security, women’s and children’s rights, administrative complaints, and economic, social, and cultural rights.
CHR data showed that in the last five years, from 2017 to 2022, cases of human rights violations in the province have gone up.
In 2017, 40 human rights cases were reported, 38 in 2018, 56 in 2019, 55 in 2020, 75 in 2021, and 81 in 2022.
But extrajudicial killings in 2022 have jumped from 46 in the previous year to 64.
Parra said that investigations to some of these cases are still ongoing.
This year, CHR is already investigating seven human rights violation cases in the province and the city, he said.
UNIDENTIFIED
Parra said that most of the perpetrators to these murders were unidentified, but law enforcement officers claimed these are vigilante killings, but he stressed that these are still up for validation.
He noted that some of the cases will mostly not prosper in court as their suspects are still unknown .
He said that CHR would usually look into other matters, such as the social-economic status of the victims so they can provide assistance to the affected families.
He also said that CHR is pursuing these cases through moto propio, or on their own initiative, as no complainants have come forward for assistance.
He said most of their cases are referrals from the central office and from the news reports.
“If there is crime, we have to investigate it. Our mandate in CHR is not prosecution or filing of the cases, we want to see the actions taken by the state regarding these cases,” he said.
UNCOOPERATIVE
Parra also revealed that it has been a challenge of getting the cooperation of law enforcement agencies in their investigation, citing that the blotter and investigation progress reports were not shared with them.
He said the police would point out that they have a “specific provision in their manual. They cite a specific legal reasons why they can’t share.”
He also said that it’s not only the police that won’t share official documents, but the army as well, but he stressed they talked with them about the cases.
“But we don’t get any documents, though we sent them requests,” he emphasized.
He stressed, “our report focuses on what we see on the ground. It’s equally important for CHR to see what actions taken by the government - if what stage in the case, is still in investigation? Or cases have already been filed to the court?”
“That’s why it’s very important that they cooperate in this...the CHR strive to coordinate (with them),” he said.
He claimed, “for me, I think there is an issue on trust. I hope they will trust us again. Before, we have accessed to these reports. I don’t know why now we have no access.”
He added that this started in the previous administration of then president Rodrigo Duterte, whose administration was known for his war on drugs and extrajudicial killings.*