Honey Mae Suazo
Honey May Suazo is former Secretary General of the Southern Mindanao Regional Chapter of the Alliance for the Advancement of People’s Rights (Karapatan). Karapatan is an alliance of individuals, groups and organisations formed in 1995 for the promotion and protection of human rights in the Philippines. It is committed to the defence of people’s rights and civil liberties through education, training, advocacy, research and network building. Honey May Suazo has undertaken several fact-finding missions, predominantly in highly militarised communities, and on several occasions has openly denounced human rights violations committed by military troops in the Southern Mindanao Region.
The situation of human rights defenders has improved, to an extent, since the end of the Arroyo administration in 2010, but the current government has failed to address continuing violations against HRDs. HRDs still face extra-judicial killings, enforced disappearances, fabricated charges, arrest, denial of bail, threats and intimidation, and restrictions on their rights of freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association. Heavy militarisation in some areas, Mindanao in particular, significantly affects the work of HRDs.
