Philippine Human Rights Act

I 116TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION H. R. 8313 To suspend the provision of security assistance to the Philippines until the Government of the Philippines has made certain reforms to the military and police forces, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES SEPTEMBER 17, 2020 Ms. WILD (for herself, Mr. COSTA, Ms. LOFGREN, Ms. HAALAND, Ms. SCHA- KOWSKY, Mr. KHANNA, Mr. MCGOVERN, Mr. RUSH, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Mr. LEVIN of Michigan, Ms. LEE of California, Ms. NORTON, Mr. RASKIN, Mr. LOWENTHAL, Mr. POCAN, Ms. OMAR, Ms. JAYAPAL, Mr. GOMEZ, Ms. OCASIO-CORTEZ, Mr. DANNY K. DAVIS of Illinois, and Ms. BONAMICI) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Affairs, and in addition to the Committee on Fi- nancial Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned A BILL To suspend the provision of security assistance to the Phil- ippines until the Government of the Philippines has made certain reforms to the military and police forces, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:30 Oct 05, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8313.IH H8313 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 8313 IH SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 1 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Philippine Human 2 Rights Act’’. 3 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 4 Congress finds the following: 5 (1) The U.S. State Department’s 2019 Human 6 Rights Report on the Philippines states ‘‘There were 7 numerous reports of government security agencies 8 and their informal allies committed arbitrary or un- 9 lawful killings in connection with the government di- 10 rected campaign against illegal drugs.’’. The Report 11 goes on to state, ‘‘Government mechanisms to inves- 12 tigate and punish abuse and corruption in the secu- 13 rity forces were poorly resourced and remained 14 largely ineffective’’. The United Nations Office of 15 the High Commissioner on Human Rights in its an- 16 nual report for the 44th Session of the Human 17 Rights Council concluded that there is ‘‘long-stand- 18 ing overemphasis on public order and national secu- 19 rity at the expense of human rights has become 20 more acute in recent years, and there are concerns 21 that the vilification of dissent is being increasingly 22 institutionalized and normalized in ways that will be 23 very difficult to reverse;’’. 24 (2) The United States continues to provide sup- 25 port via security assistance to the administration of 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:30 Oct 05, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8313.IH H8313 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 8313 IH Philippines President Duterte, whose brutal Drug 1 War and other campaigns have taken the lives of 2 over 30,000 urban poor, peasants, workers, indige- 3 nous and environmental activists as well as human 4 rights defenders, religious leaders, and peace advo- 5 cates. 6 (3) Government agencies of the Philippines re- 7 port 4,948 suspected drug users and dealers, includ- 8 ing 60 children, died during police operations from 9 July 1, 2016 to September 30, 2018, and according 10 to Human Rights Watch, the Philippine National 11 Police (PNP) have reported 22,983 deaths remain 12 classified as ‘‘homicides under investigation’’ since 13 the Drug War began. 14 (4) As of April 2020, the Alliance for Advance- 15 ment of People’s Rights (‘‘Karapatan’’) has docu- 16 mented 308 extrajudicial political killings, 439 vic- 17 tims of attempted politically motivated killings, 214 18 victims of torture, around 2,500 victims of illegal ar- 19 rests, over 100,000 victims of threats and harass- 20 ments, and nearly half a million internal refugees 21 under the Duterte administration. 22 (5) More than 16 mayors and vice mayors have 23 been killed since President Duterte took office, and 24 Duterte has personally spoke blatantly in press con- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:30 Oct 05, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8313.IH H8313 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 8313 IH ferences advocating for the killing of Catholic 1 bishops during a period where three Catholic priests 2 were assassinated. 3 (6) Labor leaders and legislators have also been 4 amongst those attacked by the administration, with 5 30 labor leaders killed, 3 labor leaders being held as 6 political prisoners, and Senator Leila De Lima who 7 has been a staunch critic of the drug war killings 8 having been detained for over 2 years. 9 (7) The international NGO Global Witness has 10 declared the Philippines to be the deadliest country 11 in the world for defenders of human rights, the envi- 12 ronment, and natural resources, with 13 environ- 13 mentalists, 54 indigenous people, and 207 farmers 14 and peasants extrajudicially killed since Duterte 15 took office in 2016. Included in the targeting of en- 16 vironmental activists was American citizen, Brandon 17 Lee, who was subjected to an assassination attempt 18 on August 6, 2019. Brandon has been subjected to 19 repeated threats and harassment by the Philippine 20 military due to his advocacy relating to the land and 21 rights of indigenous people in Ifugao province and 22 the surrounding Cordillera region of the Philippines. 23 While Brandon Lee survived the attack, he has been 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:30 Oct 05, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8313.IH H8313 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 8313 IH left paralyzed and his assailants have not been 1 brought to justice. 2 (8) It is widely recognized that the Duterte ad- 3 ministration silences dissent and the press. The 4 State Department’s 2019 Report states, ‘‘Govern- 5 ment harassment of some media outlets occurred, 6 however, and polls suggested many Filipinos con- 7 sider it dangerous to publish information critical of 8 the administration.’’ In May 2020, ABS-CBN, one 9 of the Philippines’ two major sources of news, and 10 an occasional critic of Duterte’s policies, was forced 11 off air due to the denial of a franchise license by the 12 Congress of the Philippines, at the behest of the 13 Duterte administration. Similarly, Maria Ressa, a 14 vocal critic of the Duterte administration, Times 15 Magazine’s Person of the Year 2018 recipient, and 16 founder of the digital news site Rappler was con- 17 victed of cyber libel in June 2020. In July 2020, the 18 Duterte administration signed the ‘‘Anti-Terrorism 19 Act of 2020’’ into law. Countless Filipino and inter- 20 national commentators, including fifty U.S. Rep- 21 resentatives have warned that the law will be used 22 to further target critics and silence dissent. 23 (9) The United States continues to arm state 24 security forces of the Philippines. Despite clear doc- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:30 Oct 05, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8313.IH H8313 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 8313 IH umentation of abuses and international condemna- 1 tion, in April 2020, the United States announced a 2 pair of arms sales totaling $2,000,000,000 for items 3 including hellfire missiles and attack helicopters. In 4 July 2020, the United States announced an addi- 5 tional sale of $126,000,000 worth of assault boats 6 and armaments. 7 SEC. 3. SUSPENSION OF SECURITY ASSISTANCE. 8 (a) SUSPENSION OF SECURITY ASSISTANCE.—No 9 Federal funds are authorized to be appropriated or other- 10 wise made available to provide assistance for the police 11 or military of the Philippines, including assistance in the 12 form of equipment or training until the date described in 13 subsection (d). 14 (b) LOANS FROM MULTILATERAL DEVELOPMENT 15 BANKS.—The President shall instruct United States rep- 16 resentatives at multilateral development banks to vote 17 against providing any loans to the police or military of 18 the Philippines. 19 (c) REPORT REQUIRED.—Not later than 180 days 20 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Inspectors 21 General of the Department of State and Department of 22 Defense shall jointly submit to the Committee on Foreign 23 Affairs of the House of Representatives and the Com- 24 mittee on Foreign Relations of the Senate a report that— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:30 Oct 05, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8313.IH H8313 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 8313 IH (1) specifies all forms of security assistance or 1 loans made available to the Philippine National Po- 2 lice or the armed forces of the Philippines, including 3 any organizations or individuals operating with the 4 authority of the Philippine National Police or the 5 armed forces of the Philippines, by the United 6 States or by multilateral development banks during 7 the period beginning January 1, 2016, and ending 8 on the date of the submission of the report; 9 (2) contains all reports generated by recipients 10 of United States security assistance or loans from 11 multilateral development banks to the Philippines 12 with respect to the use, investment, or transfer of 13 such assistance or loans; and 14 (3) details any and all misuses of security as- 15 sistance and loans during the period beginning Jan- 16 uary 1, 2016, and ending on the date of the submis- 17 sion of the report by the Philippine National Police, 18 the armed forces of the Philippines, or any affiliated 19 groups or individuals, such as extrajudicial killings, 20 intimidation of political opponents, illegal sales 21 under Philippine or international law, or misappro- 22 priation. 23 (d) CONDITIONS FOR LIFTING SUSPENSION OF AS- 24 SISTANCE.—The suspension of security assistance under 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:30 Oct 05, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8313.IH H8313 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 8313 IH subsection (a) shall terminate on the date on which the 1 Secretary of State certifies to the Committee on Foreign 2 Affairs of the House of Representatives and the Com- 3 mittee on Foreign Relations of the Senate that the Gov- 4 ernment of the Philippines has— 5 (1) ) investigated and successfully prosecuted 6 members of military and police forces who have vio- 7 lated human rights, ensured that the military and 8 police cooperated in such cases, and affirmed that 9 such violations have ceased; 10 (2) withdrawn the military from involvement in 11 domestic policing activities, in accordance with the 12 Philippine Constitution and ensured that all domes- 13 tic police functions are separated from the military 14 chain of command and are instead directly respon- 15 sible to civilian authorities; 16 (3) established that it effectively protects the 17 rights of trade unionists, journalists, human rights 18 defenders, critics of the government, and other civil 19 society activists to operate without interference; 20 (4) taken effective steps to guarantee a judicial 21 system that is capable of investigating, prosecuting, 22 and bringing to justice members of the police and 23 military who have committed human rights abuses; 24 and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:30 Oct 05, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H8313.IH H8313 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 8313 IH (5) fully complied with domestic and United 1 States audits and investigations regarding the im- 2 proper use of prior security assistance. 3 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:30 Oct 05, 2020 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H8313.IH H8313 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS