Consortium for Street Children prepared this submission to inform a report of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) on the human rights situation in the Philippines (based on Resolution 41/2 of the Human Rights Council).
The information is largely based on reports directly provided by children to CSC’s partners in-country and highlights grave concerns about the impact that the Philippine administration’s campaign on illegal drugs has had and is continuing to have on children in street situations. This impact includes serious, repeated and unremedied human rights violations such as illegal arrests, detention, intimidation, torture and extrajudicial killings.
CSC urges the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to make the following
recommendations to the Government of the Philippines:
- Immediate and complete suspension of the administration’s campaign against illegal drugs
- Suspension of the implementation of curfew against children throughout the Philippines
unless and until it can be done in a way that respects children’s rights and does not unfairly
discriminate or punish children in street situations for their status as such. - Immediate compliance with existing laws and policies designed to protect children and their
safety - Stringent oversight and appropriate training of all government and quasi-government agents
having contact with children and youth to ensure they are not violating children’s rights - Regular monitoring of all places where children and youth are detained, sheltered or kept in
custody, including by independent bodies - Improved supervision of police and other law enforcement officials including through the
use of technology such as body-cameras to eliminate the rates of abuse and torture of
children and youth - More funding and support for paralegal services for children and youth who are targeted by
law enforcement officials, especially those who have experienced violation of their rights - Immediate implementation of the Philippine National Multi-Sector Strategic Plan for
Children in Street Situations that seeks to uphold the rights of children as outlined in General Comment 21 for Children in Street Situations.
Read the full submission here.