Defenders urge UN action on IP, environment woes

Currently on a 10-day official visit to the country, from Nov. 6 to 15, is the first United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights in the Context of Climate Change.

Ian Fry was appointed by the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in March 2022, and he began that mandate the following May. His visit here has boosted the morale of the indigenous peoples (IP) and their defenders. For decades, they have been targets of state harassment and repression.

Three major formations – Katribu (coalition of IP organizations), Sandugo (movement of Moros and IP for self-determination) and Bai (indigenous women’s network) announced on Nov. 6:

“Together with various civil society organizations… we look forward to the opportunity for dialogue and collaboration [with Ian Fry] on dams, mines and other major contributors to environmental destruction and climate change. We hope to come up with collaborative solutions advancing the human rights and aspirations of the IP.”

Katribu’s national convenor, Beverly Longid, stated, “As stewards of ancestral lands, the IP are the primary custodians of the environment. Yet, IP are being driven out of their ancestral lands, especially in the face of corporate plunder and destruction caused by large dams and mines.”

Human rights violations have been committed against those who reject such development aggression and extractive industries, she said, through red-tagging and terrorist designation, trumped-up charges and illegal arrests, killings and disappearances. Many indigenous activists have been forcibly disappeared in the recent past, and until now more than 63 IP remain as political prisoners.

Tribal communities have been bombed in Kalinga and Cagayan Valley, Moro communities in Lanao del Sur and even in the hinterlands of Negros island. Such aerial attacks have caused long-term damage to the environment, the people’s livelihood and their homes.

On Nov. 7, the three organizations attended Fry’s dialogue with civil society organizations at the UN House in Mandaluyong City. They submitted a joint report on the situation of indigenous communities. Eufemia Cullamat, Sandugo spokesperson, presented an overview of the