Philippines: Killing of human rights defender Celso Pojas

Front Line is deeply concerned following reports that human rights defender Celso Pojas was shot dead on 15 May 2008 outside the offices of the Farmers Association in Davao City (FADC). Celso Pojas was Secretary General of the FADC. He had spoken out against militarisation in indigenous communities and worked to defend the land rights of farmers and indigenous people in the Philippines.

Further Information

Posted 19/05/2008 On 15 May 2008, at approximately 5:45 in the morning, Celso Pojas was shot dead by five unidentified men outside the FADC offices in Davao, Southern Mindanao. He was killed by a shot to the right rib and left arm from a .45 caliber pistol. He had been having coffee with colleagues when he left the office to buy cigarettes. He had been scheduled to leave later that day with members of the FADC and the Peasants Movement in the Philippines (Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas - KMP) for the Compostela Valley to visit an indigenous farming community which had been forcibly displaced by the military.

In February and March 2008 Celso Pojas campaigned against military operations which had allegedly caused increased human rights violations against indigenous people and farmers in the Compostela Valley Province. He later met with the family of a tribal leader who had defended the land rights of indigenous people in Tugbok, Davao City, and was subsequently murdered on 30 April 2008. Celso Pojas had been under surveillance since December 2007 and had received death threats since March 2008.

Front Line believes that Celso Pojas was killed as a result of his legitimate work in defence of human rights, in particular the rights of indigenous people. Front Line is concerned that this attack may represent an ongoing trend in which human rights defenders in the Philippines are targeted and killed.