UN being used to peddle opposition lies

The 42nd session of the United Nations Human Rights Council will run until 27 September 2019 at the Palais des Nations, in Geneva, Switzerland. (UN)

Government officials will be purveyors of truth in the ongoing 42nd session of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) in Geneva, Switzerland amid groups raising alarm against what they call a “sham drug war” by the Duterte administration.

Undersecretary Severo Catura of the Presidential Human Rights Committee Secretariat said the government continues to deal with non-government organizations (NGOs) that are rabid critics of President Rodrigo Duterte and whose handful of members make it a point to propagate fake information on alleged human rights violations during UNHRC sessions.

“Sadly, they are Filipinos who represent a minuscule group of oppositionists back home, but unfortunately the loudest, whose main objective has always been to humiliate and embarrass our country before the world,” Catura said.

These NGOs, Catura added, will never talk to the government as their cause becomes irrelevant as the government can effectively address their criticisms.

“These NGOs will always need and abuse the UN, pity this body, if only to justify their sad and sorry existence,” Catura said, referring to the intergovernmental organization of 193 sovereign states that fosters cooperation between nations in order to solve economic, social, cultural, or humanitarian international problems, among others.

Catura challenged NGOs to stop using the UN as a sounding board for lies against the Philippines.

Undersecretary Severo Catura to critics: Visit the Philippines to find out for yourselves.

Instead of running to the UN, he called on critics to engage with the Philippine government and take advantage of the remedial mechanisms to address alleged cases of human rights violations.

“The Philippine government has always been open, in fact, waiting for these engagements, to no avail,” he said.

Catura recalled attending an hour-long side-event forum in the session on 11 September, co-sponsored by iDefend, Task Force Detainees of the Philippines, PAHRA, and Association of Major Religious Superiors of the Philippines.

In the forum titled “The human rights crisis in the Philippines” were the usual anti-government and anti-Duterte tirades.

“I knew there would be the usual tirades, but I never expected the capacity of these NGO panelists to spew the lies and deception at such level so unheard so, and with tears for good measure,” Catura was quoted from his Facebook post.

He said he had the chance to make brief comments on the status of the anti-illegal drug campaign and the State’s protection of children being used by drug addicts and drug dealers.

“Just go and visit the Philippines to find out for yourselves,” Catura challenged the attendees.

The UNHRC 42nd Session, which runs from 9 to 27 September, will have updates from the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights; thematic reporting by and interactive dialogues with special rapporteurs and independent experts, including side-meetings and consultations with them; and NGO/sectoral side-events.