(Eagle News) — Malacañang on Saturday, September 23, welcomed the United Nations Human Rights Council’s (UNHRC) final and unanimous adoption of the third Philippine Universal Periodic Review (UPR) Report, which, the Palace said, reaffirmed the government’s commitment to protect human rights and respect the dignity of Filipinos.
This was good news for the Palace after opposition members and administration critics have repeatedly denounced what they claimed were extrajudicial killings that they alleged were the results of the government’s war on drugs. The critics who took to the streets on Thursday, September 21, also said that the government lacked the resolve to protect human rights in the country.
But according to Presidential Spokesperson Ernesto Abella, this UN Human Rights Council’s adoption of the UPR report proved the critics wrong.
In a statement aired over Radyo Pilipinas, Abella said the unanimous adoption of the UPR Report in Geneva signifies the UN’s recognition of the country’s human rights record under the leadership of President Rodrigo Duterte.
“This likewise reaffirms our respect for the dignity of the Filipino people and the protection of the Filipino family as we strive for a better life in a society free of illegal drugs and other crimes,” Abella said.
The Palace official further commended Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano and all the members of the Philippine government UPR team for successfully presenting the country’s human rights policies to the international community.
“We congratulate the efforts of Department of Foreign Affairs Secretary (DFA) Alan Peter Cayetano, together with Senior Deputy Executive Secretary Menardo Guevarra, Undersecretary Severo Catura of the Presidential Commission on Human Rights, and the rest of the members of the Philippine government UPR team, Philippine Ambassador to the UN Evan Garcia, and the team at the Philippine Mission to the UN in Geneva for their tireless efforts in explaining to the world our policies, practices, commitments and obligations in the area of human rights,” Abella said.
The Universal Periodic Review (UPR) is a unique mechanism of the Human Rights Council (HRC) aimed at improving the human rights situation on the ground of each of the 193 United Nations (UN) Member States, stated the UPR’s definition on its website.
It said that under this mechanism, the human rights situation of all UN Member States is reviewed every five years. Forty-two States are reviewed each year during three Working Group sessions dedicated to 14 States each. These three sessions are usually held in January/February, May/June and October/November.
The result of each review is reflected in an “outcome report” listing the recommendations the State under review (SuR) will have to implement before the next review, the UPR site further explained.