On the 72nd anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) expresses its solidarity with the Filipino people and the international community of freedom-loving peoples in marking today the 72nd anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) by the United Nations General Assembly.
The adoption of the human rights declaration was done at a time of rising global resistance to oppression and colonialization and demand to end the sufferings inflicted by the imperialist aggressors against the subjugated masses. It was a condemnation of the crimes perpetrated during the fascist Holocaust of 1941-1945. It has since been used by peoples in their struggle against colonialism, authoritarianism, fascism, state terrorism and other forms of political oppression.
Marking the anniversary of the UDHR today is particularly significant for the Filipino people as they confront heightened state terrorism under a regime that is openly contemptuous of human rights and which has perpetrated the murder of tens of thousands of people in its “war on drugs” and in its anti-communist drive. Hundreds have been thrown into prison on arbitrary criminal charges aimed at political persecution against the regime’s opponents and critics, as well as defenders of human rights. Everyday, thousands of people are subjected to unlawful arrests, torture, intimidation and threats and other forms of military and police repression and restrictions which contravene their basic rights as stipulated by the UDHR.
Close to 50,000 people in the country have been victims of state abuses under the Duterte regime’s dirty war. Most of the victims are peasants who are daily subjected to military psywar and combat operations. The past year, at least 87 activists and known revolutionaries have been killed by state forces, while more than 760 have been arrested. Extrajudicial killings in the course of the Duterte regime’s drug war continue unabated.
International human rights stalwarts have condemned the Duterte regime for its widespread killings and rights abuses. However, instead of carrying out a decisive measure against Duterte’s reign of terror, it has connived with the regime in efforts to cover up its crimes in the name of “technical training.”
The Party acclaims the patriotic and democratic forces who have taken a firm stand against the Duterte fascist regime and are bravely raising their voices against tyranny. These forces are defending human rights through whatever is left of legal courses of action and are exhibiting the same courage which carried their 14-year struggle against the Marcos dictatorship to victory. They are armed only with their principles and their determination to fight against Duterte’s corruption, abuses and national treachery.
While the broad masses must hold to account reactionary governments for transgressions against human rights instruments, they must also be keen to the historic fact that these are, in the final analysis, merely adornments for bourgeois class dictatorship. Full democracy and freedom can never be truly enjoyed under the class rule of oppressors and exploiters. To attain the full realization of human rights, there is no other way but for the proletariat and people to wage revolutionary struggle towards establishing their democratic class rule.