United Nations (UN) Special Rapporteur Irene Khan lamented the plight of two jailed human rights defenders in Tacloban City after visiting them.
UN Special Rapporteur Irene Khan during her visit to Tacloban City Jail (Photo from Khan's X post)
As UN’s special rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression, Khan visited Marielle Domequil and Alexander Abinguna at the Tacloban City Jail, and posted a photo with the activists on X (formerly Twitter) on Sunday, Jan. 28.
“We are only int’l visitors so far allowed by #Philippines gov(ernmen)t to visit them!,” she wrote.
Khan bemoaned the long judicial process in the country.
“Arrested in Feb 2020, trial still dragging on. How long must they wait to be free?!,” Khan asked.
Visiting Domequil and Abinguna is part of her mission in the Philippines, where she is expected to remain until Feb. 2.
The two were arrested by the police and the military in separate occasions, along with two other human rights activists and a journalist, for allegedly being a part of a leftist group.
Khan also visited Frenchie Mae Cumpio, a journalist who is also detained at the Tacloban City Jail.
Dubbed as the “Leyte 5,” their arrests have sparked a wave of concern among journalists, with rights and independent media organizations calling for their release.
Karapatan, an alliance of individuals and organizations defending human rights in the country, lauded Khan for visiting three “political prisoners.”
Aside from Abinguna, a Karapatan human rights worker, and Domequil, a Rural Missionaries of the Philippines staff, the UN special rapporteur also visited campus journalist Frenchie Mae Cumpio, Karapatan’s statement on Saturday, Jan. 27, said.
“Their unjust arrest and detention, since February 2020, is one of most glaring cases of how far the policy and practice of red-tagging, filing of trumped up charges, and political imprisonment and persecution is used against frontliners for freedom of expression and opinion in the country," Karapatan Secretary-General Cristina Palabay stated.
Khan, who met with Department of Justice (DOJ) officials to inquire about red-tagging and killings, is expected to issue a report on the status of freedom of opinion and expression in the country.