UN urged to halt China’s harassment of PH fishermen in Bajo de Masinloc

UP LAW Professor Harry Roque and the Centerlaw Philippines urged the United Nations (UN) to intervene and order China to stop the attacks against fishermen in the disputed Bajo de Masinloc or the Panatag (Scarborough Shoal).

The letter was addressed to Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Hilal Elver, UN Special Rapporteur on the right to food and Idriss Jazairy, UN Special Rapporteur on the Negative Impact of the Unilateral Coercive Measures on the Enjoyment of Human Rights.

In their letter, they cited the need for China to fulfill its international obligation under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the customary international law.

The letter identified 38 victims who in various instances were harassed by Chinese Coast Guard armed with AK 47 rifles and were driven out of the Panatag Shoal by Chinese ships and a helicopter or by ramming their fishing boats or firing water cannon at them.

They said the fisherfolk lost their livelihoods because of the harassment.

“The actions of China’s state agents in forcing the Filipino fishermen to leave the traditional and marine resource-rich fishing grounds of Scarborough Shoal, and in preventing them from fishing in the shoal, constitute a violation of the Filipino fishermen’s right to an adequate standard of living for themselves and their families under Article 11 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (ICESCR)—to which China is a state party to,” the letter to UN stated.

They added that China’s action violated the Filipino fisherfolk’s right to adequate food, which is “of crucial importance for the enjoyment of all rights.”

“Due to the economic losses that the Filipino fisherfolk and their families have been suffering and due to the start of the rainy season this June in the Philippines, hence, there is a pronounced and urgent need for a safe refuge for Filipino fishermen in Scarborough Shoal and for a restoration of their right to an important food resource,” the letter stated.