Karapatan, CPP condemn killing of 2 human rights fact-finding mission members in Negros Oriental

THE COMMUNIST Party of the Philippines (CPP) added its voice to condemning the killing of two members of a human rights fact-finding mission in Bayawan, Negros Oriental. “The CPP condemns the most recent killing of two human rights defenders on a fact-finding mission in Negros Oriental… as well as illegal mass arrests and continued harassment of activists and groups in the past week. These incidents, and numerous incidents before them, clearly illustrate Duterte’s dirty war against the people in the guise of an “all-out war” against the revolutionary movement. He will be made responsible for these crimes,” the CPP said in its official twitter account @prwc_info. Human rights alliance Karapatan reported that on Nov. 28, Elisa Badayos of Karapatan Central Visayas and Elioterio Moises, a barangay tanod and member of local peasant organization Mantapi Ebwan Farmers Association, died after being fired at by still unidentified men. Another 23-year-old Kabataan party-list member remains in critical condition, the group said. “The attack on human rights defenders are becoming more rampant, more brutal, more fearless… Fact-finding missions are a mechanism for human rights organizations to confirm reports of abuses, and this incident has only proven how fascism works to outrightly kill those who dare to question,” said Karapatan Secretary General Cristina Palabay in a statement.