Ariel Evangelista
Ariel Evangelista was a human rights defender and a leader of the progressive group for fisherfolk, Ugnayan ng Mamamayan Laban sa Pagwawasak ng Kalikasan. He was a strong advocate of the protection of rights of members of his community.
The climate of impunity in the Philippines, coupled with the administration's encouragement of extrajudicial killings of suspected drug users, as well as the increasingly hard line of the military against the Philippine National Democratic Front , have led to a serious deterioration of the situation of human rights defenders in the country. Since the election of President Rodrigo Duterte in May 2016, HRDs have faced a wave of assassinations and violence. Judicial harassment and the criminalization of HRDs remain common; politicians and private actors, such as mining companies, use the justice system to silence those who oppose their interests.
