Karapatan Alliance Philippines (commonly shortened to Karapatan, which translates to ''rights'' in Filipino) is a left-wing

non-governmental organization A non-governmental organization (NGO) or non-governmental organisation (see spelling differences) is an organization that generally is formed independent from government. They are typically nonprofit entities, and many of them are active in h ...

and

human rights Human rights are Morality, moral principles or Social norm, normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for ce ...

alliance that conducts research and advocacy of human rights campaigns as well as monitoring and documentation of

human rights violations in the Philippines Human rights in the Philippines are protected by the Constitution of the Philippines, to make sure that persons in the Philippines are able to live peacefully and with dignity, safe from the abuse of any individuals or institutions, including the ...

, particularly in the context of the

Philippine government The Government of the Philippines ( fil, Pamahalaan ng Pilipinas) has three interdependent branches: the legislative, executive, and judicial branches. The Philippines is governed as a unitary state under a presidential representative and d ...

's campaign against the communist insurgency in the country and the peace negotiations between the Philippine government and the

National Democratic Front of the Philippines The National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) (Filipino: ''Pambansang Demokratikong Hanay ng Pilipinas (PDHP)'') is a coalition of revolutionary social and economic justice organizations, agricultural unions, trade unions, indigenous ...

. Karapatan draws attention to human rights abuses in the Philippines through education campaigns and trainings, providing legal services to victims of human rights violations, and lobbying efforts in the country as well as engaging platforms such as the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...

and other international human rights bodies. Karapatan is a member of the

International League of Peoples' Struggle The International League of Peoples' Struggle (ILPS) is an international organization that seeks to coordinate anti-imperialist and democratic movements around the world. Communist Party of the Philippines founding chairman José María Sison org ...

Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development The Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA) reviously known as Forum-Asiais a membership-based regional human rights organisation with 85 member organisations in 23 countries across Asia. It is committed to the promotion and pro ...

, Civicus World Alliance for Citizen Participation, the SOS - Torture Network of the

World Organisation Against Torture The World Organisation Against Torture (''Organisation Mondiale Contre la Torture''; OMCT) is the world's largest coalition of non-governmental organisations fighting against arbitrary detention, torture, summary and extrajudicial executions, f ...

, and it also co-convenes the Ecumenical Voice for Human Rights and Peace in the Philippines and the Philippine Universal Periodic Review Watch.

History

Karapatan was founded in 1995 by human rights activists who were active in the resistance movements against the regime of then-Philippine president

Ferdinand Marcos Ferdinand Emmanuel Edralin Marcos Sr. ( , , ; September 11, 1917 – September 28, 1989) was a Filipino politician, lawyer, dictator, and kleptocrat who was the 10th president of the Philippines from 1965 to 1986. He ruled under martial ...

. In 2007, the organization's former secretary general Marie Hilao-Enriquez presented on extra-judicial political killings before the East Asian and Pacific Affairs Subcommittee of the

United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations The United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations is a standing committee of the U.S. Senate charged with leading foreign-policy legislation and debate in the Senate. It is generally responsible for overseeing and funding foreign aid pr ...

, chaired by US Senator

Barbara Boxer Barbara Sue Boxer (née Levy; born November 11, 1940) is an American politician and lobbyist who served in the United States Senate, representing California from 1993 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, she previously served as the U.S. ...

(D-Cal).. In 2019, after the Philippine government accused Karapatan of being a front for the

Communist Party of the Philippines The Communist Party of the Philippines ( fil, Partido Komunista ng Pilipinas) is a far-left, Marxist-Leninist-Maoist revolutionary organization and communist party in the Philippines, formed by Jose Maria Sison on 26 December 1968. It is desi ...

, which the government had labeled as a terrorist group in 2017, Karapatan filed several complaints with

officials.

Zara Alvarez Zara Alvarez (25 March 1981 – 17 August 2020) was a Filipina human rights advocate, educator, paralegal, and prominent social activist who predominantly campaigned against human rights violations during the administration of Rodrigo Duterte. S ...

, former education director of Karapatan's regional chapter in

Negros Negros is the fourth largest and third most populous island in the Philippines, with a total land area of . Negros is one of the many islands of the Visayas, in the central part of the country. The predominant inhabitants of the island region a ...

, was shot dead on 17 August 2020. She was Karapatan's 13th member to be killed under the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte, who has called Karapatan an "organization of demons" and an alleged "front" of communist rebels for Karapatan's criticism of the human rights violations in his "war on drugs." Karapatan has been alleged to be a particular target of Philippine security forces and their agents.

References

External links

* {{Official website, http://www.karapatan.org

Karapatan Karapatan Alliance Philippines (commonly shortened to Karapatan, which translates to ''rights'' in Filipino) is a left-wing non-governmental organization and human rights alliance that conducts research and advocacy of human rights campaigns as ...

National Democracy Movement (Philippines)