Philippines: Release of rights defender and health practitioner Naty Castro

The Observatory has been informed by Karapatan Alliance Philippines (Karapatan) about the release of Dr. Maria Natividad Marian “Naty” Castro, a public health practitioner and human rights defender. Ms. Castro has worked in the poorest and most marginalised areas in the Philippines as a community-based health worker. She has also worked for the defence of community rights of the indigenous Lumad and is a former National Council member of Karapatan.

On March 25, 2022, the Bayugan City Regional Trial Court Branch 7 dismissed the charges of “kidnapping” and “serious illegal detention” filed against Ms. Castro under Criminal Case No. 6527, and ordered her release. The decision was made on the grounds of “[d]enial of her right to due process” and “lack of jurisdiction over the […] accused”. The judge ruled that not providing Ms. Castro with a summons while the preliminary investigation was conducted amounted to a denial of her right to due process, as it deprived her of her right to participate in the preliminary investigation.

After 42 days of arbitrary detention, on March 30, 2022 Ms. Castro was released from the Agusan del Sur Provincial Jail and subsequently reunited with her family.

The Observatory recalls that officials of the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Philippine Army (PA) arbitrarily arrested Ms. Castro at her residence in San Juan City, Manila, on February 18, 2022. Members of the PNP and PA presented an arrest warrant issued by the Regional Trial Court Branch 7 of Bayugan City, Agusan del Sur Province, in January 2020, on charges of “kidnapping” and “serious illegal detention”, filed by public prosecutor Genesis Efren in March 2019. Ms. Castro was subsequently taken to the San Juan Police Station and then moved to the Quirino Memorial Medical Center in Quezon, where she underwent medical examination.

During her detention period in the PNP’s headquarters in Camp Crame, neither her family members nor legal counsels were allowed to have contact with her, and their requests to bring her medicine for hypertension and diabetes were denied. Furthermore, on February 19, 2022, Ms. Castro was held incommunicado by the authorities, who had flown her to the island of Mindano without her family or legal representatives being informed. After multiple calls from her family and representatives, the PNP disclosed Ms. Castro’s whereabouts. On February 22, 2022, the Regional Trial Court Branch 7 of Bayugan City ordered her transfer to the Agusan del Sur Provincial Jail.

The Observatory notes that since November of 2020, Ms. Castro has been a victim of red-tagging. Her name and picture have been circulated on social media platforms in Lianga, Surigao del Sur Province, falsely accusing her of being a “communist”, a “terrorist”, and a member of the New People’s Army (NPA).

The Observatory further recalls that since President Duterte took power in June 2016, human rights defenders in the Philippines have faced relentless vilification and have been subjected to trumped-up charges and lengthy pre-trial arbitrary detention, with the aim to discredit their peaceful work and to silence all critical voices, thus creating a climate of fear, in which attacks against them are acceptable and legitimized.

The Observatory welcomes the release of Ms. Castro but underlines that she should have never been detained in the first place, and reiterates its concern over the pattern of criminalisation to which human rights defenders are subjected to, which is aimed at punishing them for their legitimate human rights activities

The Observatory urges the Philippine authorities to immediately and unconditionally drop all charges against human rights defenders like Ms. Castro, release them, and put an end to all acts of harassment against them.

The Observatory reiterates its utmost concern over the violence, including killings and physical attacks, against human rights defenders in the Philippines, and calls upon the authorities to adopt effective measures to ensure the protection of human rights defenders in the country.