Indigenous Women Asserting Rights are Not Terrorists
Ms. Vicky Tauli-Corpuz, Beverly Longid and Joan Carling, Philippine indigenous women, are not terrorists. LILAK stands by the three Indigenous Women leaders the Department of Justice (DOJ) seeks to be declared as “terrorists”, and demand that harassment and threats against them and all human rights defenders be stopped.
In February 21, 2018, the DOJ submitted a list of alleged communists, and therefore should be declared “terrorists”. The “list” has 461 names and 188 aliases (March 10, 2018/Manila Standard). With names such as Boy Negro, Kubing, Yayang, Talik – one wonders about the level of intelligence work and due diligence that came with this list. LILAK believes that this list should altogether be disregarded and be exposed as plain and simple harassment.
LILAK and its partner indigenous women have been working with each of these three indigenous women on different issues and campaigns. Previously as the Executive Director of Tebtebba Foundation, and now as UN Special Rapparteur on Indigenous Peoples rights, LILAK has undertaken joint activities with Ms. Vicky Tauli-Corpuz particularly in promoting indigenous women’s rights at different levels – local, national and international.
Ms. Beverly Longid, previously as Secretary General of the Cordillera Peoples Alliance (CPA), has been part of the different activities of LILAK particularly in learning sessions and national gatherings of indigenous women. With Ms. Joan Carling, as the Secretary General of the Asian Indigenous Peoples Pact (AIPP), she and her organization have supported the different activities and advocacies of indigenous peoples we work with – providing emergency funds to families of indigenous peoples (IP) victims of extra judicial killings and IP human rights defenders; and giving training support for communities to be able to access different international and UN human rights mechanisms. Aside from these, the indigenous women and indigenous communities that LILAK works with have had longer relationships with each of them, in the assertion of the latter’s human rights as indigenous peoples.
Is this terrorism?
This act of the DOJ to push for the declaration of these three indigenous women, along with the other names on the list as terrorists is irresponsible, and deadly. It gives license to armed force of the State, and practically to everyone, to intimidate, and yes, to kill them. It legitimizes the series of killings of indigenous women and men who were actively defending their territories. In a speech before the Lumad, or the indigenous peoples in Mindanao, (February 11, 2018 / Davao City), President Duterte offered them P20,000 for every communist that they kill. A few days after, in a speech among soldiers in Malacanang, (February 13, 2018), he ordered soldiers to shoot female communist rebels “in the vagina”.
This is terrorism.
Every woman, every one, has the right to act and work for change and for social justice. Every indigenous woman has the right to organize and empower indigenous communities to collectively assert their right to defend their territories, and to practice self-determination.
This is what Vicky Corpuz, Beverly Longid, Joan Carling is all about.
LILAK stands by them, as we call on the Duterte government to take them off the list of alleged terrorists; their safety as they go about their legitimate activities of being human rights defenders must be ensured. We demand a stop to these acts of terror against all human rights defenders. We have the right to defend our rights, as we work for a more humane society, free from violence, poverty and discrimination.
