On July 18, 2025, the Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (Forum-Asia) launched “Defending in Numbers: Reclaiming Civic Space, Unbroken Voices.” This biennial publication analyzes the situation of human rights defenders (HRDs) in Asia during 2023 and 2024, including in the Philippines. The launch was held at the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) and was co-sponsored by CHR, Forum-Asia, and Karapatan.
During the launch, the Marcos administration was criticized for its heightened attacks against human rights defenders and communities. These attacks include illegal or arbitrary arrests, judicial harassment through fabricated criminal cases and terror laws, political imprisonment, enforced disappearances and red-tagging — all of which undermine civic space and democracy in the country. The increased number of political prisoners in congested jails and prisons under Marcos, for instance, embodies the continuing weaponization of the law against those who express dissent against his governance.
The two years between 2023 and 2024 were globally marked by escalating armed conflicts, devastating humanitarian crises, and an alarming contraction of civic space. This trend was also evident in Asia, where the human rights landscape significantly deteriorated. Within this context, HRDs across the region played a crucial role in documenting human rights violations and advocating for social justice, often at great personal risk, including threats to the safety and well-being of themselves, their families and communities.
In 2023 and 2024, as many as 1,577 violations were committed against HRDs across 23 Asian countries monitored. At least 3,716 defenders, their family members, organizations and communities were affected by violations perpetrated by both state and non-state actors. More violations may be unreported.
Judicial harassment remained the most common violation committed against Asian HRDs, with 868 incidents documented in the period under review. This was followed by physical violence, with 426 cases recorded, which alarmingly included 39 cases of targeted killings. Intimidation, threats and censorship ranked as the third most prevalent violation with 376 events. Environmental, land, indigenous and community-based defenders faced 457 incidents of violations throughout 2023 and 2024, making them the most at-risk group of defenders. Women HRDs and those advocating for sexual orientation and gender identity rights followed with 419 recorded cases. Pro-democracy defenders (283 cases) and student and youth defenders (230 cases) were also disproportionately subjected to harassment and violence.