HUMAN RIGHTS

NEW ERA UNIVERSITY

Suggested Readings1

I. Human Rights, Historical Context, Development, and

Institutions

II. International Legal Instruments on Human Rights; the

Interplay Between International and Local Laws and
Jurisprudence

a. Status of international human rights treaties in Philippines'

domestic laws

Sec. 2, Article II of the Phil. Constitution states that generally

accepted principles of international law are adopted as part of
the law of the land. However, in practice, there is a lack of
clarity of the status of treaties ratified by the Philippines in its
domestic law. The Supreme Court has been inconsistent in its
application of norms embodied in treaties to which the
Philippines is a State Party in its judicial reasoning and
interpretation.

See Lumanog and Santos v. People of the Philippines (GR No.

182555, 7 September 2010) where Supreme Court explicitly
rejected the UN Human Rights Committee's finding that the 8-
year delay in the disposition of the criminal defendants'
appeal violated the right "to be tried without undue delay" set
out in Article 14(3)(c) of the ICCPR.

See also Concluding Observations of the UN Human Rights

Committee on the fourth periodic report on the
implementation of the ICCPR by the Philippines in 2012, where
the Committee expressed concern "at the lack of clarity on
the status of the ICCPR in domestic law." (UN Doc.
CCPR/C/PHL/CO/4, 2012, para. 5)

III. The Right to Life

a. The UN Human Rights Committee is currently in the process of

adopting its General Comment No. 36 on the right to life.

1 With recognition of the help of Ms. Emerlynne Gil, ICJs Senior International Legal Adviser, for the suggested
topics and readings.

1
 b. Right to life in relation to the death penalty and extrajudicial
killings.

(a) on the death penalty:

Optional Protocol 2 to the ICCPR, see

link:http://www.ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/2nd
OPCCPR.aspx

See also General Comment No. 26 on Continuity of

Obligations under the ICCPR (See
link: http://www.refworld.org/docid/453883fde.html)

1997 Report of the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial,

summary or arbitrary executions: Paragraphs 73 to 79, on
Capital Punishment (UN Doc. E/CN.4/1997/60) See
link: https://documents-dds-
ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/G97/100/51/PDF/G9710051.pdf?
OpenElement
Moving Away from the Death Penalty: Lessons in Southeast
Asia (See link: http://bangkok.ohchr.org/files/Moving
%20away%20from%20the%20Death%20Penalty-English
%20for%20Website.pdf)

(b)extrajudicial killings:

ICJ's Briefer on Extrajudicial Killings in the Philippines:

https://www.icj.org/icj-document-analyses-investigation-of-
arbitrary-killings-in-the-philippines/

ICJ's Practitioners Guide on Investigation of Extrajudicial

Killings: https://www.icj.org/enforced-disappearance-and-
extrajudicial-execution-investigation-and-sanction-icj-
practitioners-guide-no-9-now-also-in-english/

IV. Freedom of Expression/Minority Rights

a. Article 19 of the ICCPR in relation to provisions in the Penal Code

that may unduly limit the right to freedom of speech and expression
(e.g. Article 154, Articles 353 to 355, Articles 358 to 362, and
Section 4(c)(4) of the Cybercrime Prevention Act)

b. See ICJ's report on this - Righting Wrongs--Criminal Law Provisions

in the Philippines related to National Security and their Impact on

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 Human Rights Defenders: http://icj.wpengine.netdna-cdn.com/wp-
content/uploads/2015/03/Philippines-Criminal-Law-Provisions-
Publications-Report-2015-ENG.pdf

c. The UN Human Rights Committee's General Comment 34 on Article

19: https://www.google.co.th/search?
q=General+Comment+34&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-
b&gws_rd=cr&ei=8rV1WLTBHYPnvgTe9YuoCQ

d. The most recent report (6 September 2016) of the UN Special

Rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression, highlighting
the contemporary challenges to freedom of
expression: http://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?
symbol=A/71/373

e. On national security and access to information: Johannesburg

Principles on National Security, Freedom of Expression and Access
to Information (UN Doc. E/CN.4/1996/39)
See: https://www.article19.org/data/files/pdfs/standards/joburgprinci
ples.pdf

V. Womens Rights in International Human Rights Systems

a. ICJ's Practitioners Guide on Women's Access to Justice for Gender
Based Violence: https://www.icj.org/womens-access-to-justice-for-
gender-based-violence-icj-practitioners-guide-n-12-launched/

b. This casebook that ICJ worked on with UN Women on CEDAW cases

in Southeast Asia may also be very helpful as it discusses & gives
examples how courts around Southeast Asia (including the
Philippines) apply CEDAW
provisions: http://asiapacific.unwomen.org/en/digital-
library/publications/2016/04/cedaw-casebook

VI. The Right to be Free from Torture, Inhuman, and Degrading

Treatment
VII. Rights of Refugees and Asylum Seekers