Zara Alvarez (25 March 1981 – 17 August 2020) was a Filipina human rights

advocate An advocate is a professional in the field of law. List of country legal systems, Different countries and legal systems use the term with somewhat differing meanings. The broad equivalent in many English law–based jurisdictions could be a ba ...

educator A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. w ...

paralegal A paralegal, also known as a legal assistant or paralegal specialist, is a legal professional who performs tasks that require knowledge of legal concepts but not the full expertise of a lawyer with an admission to practice law. The market for p ...

, and prominent social

activist Activism consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived common good. Forms of activism range from mandate build ...

who predominantly campaigned against human rights violations during the administration of

Rodrigo Duterte Rodrigo Roa Duterte (, ; born March 28, 1945) is a Filipino lawyer and politician who served as the 16th president of the Philippines from 2016 to 2022. He is the first Philippine president from Mindanao, and is the oldest person to assum ...

. She was well known for her active campaign to protect human rights in the Philippines, which became a matter of concern during the

presidency of Rodrigo Duterte Rodrigo Duterte's six-year tenure as the List of presidents of the Philippines, 16th President of the Philippines began Inauguration of Rodrigo Duterte, on June 30, 2016, succeeding Benigno Aquino III. He was the first president from Mindanao ...

. During her career as a human rights activist, she was often a prime target of political mafia and reported to have received numerous

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due to her active campaigns against human rights violations. On 17 August 2020, she was assassinated by unknown gunmen. According to human rights groups, her murder suggested a serious major crackdown against human rights activists and civilians in the Philippines.

Career

Alvarez, a single mother, was actively involved in social activism and served as a paralegal staffer helping to spotlight cases regarding human rights violations on

Negros Island Negros (, , ) is the fourth largest and third most populous island in the Philippines, with a total land area of . The coastal zone of the southern part of Negros is identified as a site of highest marine biodiversity importance in the Coral T ...

to the

United Nations Human Rights Council The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) is a United Nations body whose mission is to promote and protect human rights around the world. The Council has 47 members elected for staggered three-year terms on a United Nations Regional Gro ...

. She also worked as a volunteer for the human rights organisation

Karapatan Karapatan Alliance Philippines (commonly shortened to Karapatan, which translates to ''rights'' in Filipino) is a left-wing non-governmental organization and human rights alliance that conducts research and advocacy of human rights campaigns as ...

where she served as the education director and also associated closely with the Negros Island Health Integrated Program as an advocacy officer. In 2018, she was purposely included in an official terror list among 600 individuals by the Duterte administration to silence her. She was detained by the

Philippine National Police The Philippine National Police (PNP; ) is the national police force of the Philippines. Its national headquarters is located at Camp Crame in Bagong Lipunan ng Crame, Quezon City. Currently, it has approximately 228,000 personnel to police a pop ...

for nearly two years until 2020. In a manifestation filed with the

Supreme Court of the Philippines The Supreme Court (; colloquially referred to as the ' (also used in formal writing), is the highest court in the Philippines. It was established by the Taft Commission on June 11, 1901, through the enactment of Act No. 136, which abolished th ...

on 1 September 2020, Karapatan said Alvarez was supposed to be a witness on the red-tagging and harassment of human rights workers.

Murder

On 17 August 2020, at around 8 pm, she was reportedly shot several times by unidentified gunmen along the Sta. Maria Street in Eroreco, Barangay Mandalagan,

Bacolod Bacolod, officially the City of Bacolod (; ; ; ), is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city in the Negros Island Region in the Philippines. With a total of 600,783 inhabitants as of the 2020 census, it is th ...

. She was apparently targeted by gunmen while she was heading home after buying dinner. She was killed on the day of the funeral of peace activist Randall Echanis, who was assassinated on 10 August 2020. She was the 13th member of Karapatan to be murdered since Rodrigo Duterte came to power in 2016.

Reactions

International rights group International Coalition for Human Rights condemned and denounced the killing of the activist and, in an official statement, it stated that Alvarez was a brave figure and staunch defender of farmers and Filipino rights. Her murder sparked hot debate in the international community criticizing the newly passed Anti-Terrorism Act of 2020 (Republic Act No. 11479), a measure giving the government more powers to act against persons or groups falling under what critics say is a dangerous and vague definition of terrorism. In light of Alvarez's murder, the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entities. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often ...

requested the Supreme Court to make it easier for rights activists such as Alvarez to seek protection under the writ of amparo. The Supreme Court administrator said the court will review guidelines for the writ.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alvarez, Zara 1981 births 2020 deaths Assassinated Filipino people Assassinated activists Filipino human rights activists Filipino women human rights activists Place of birth missing 2020 murders in the Philippines

Career

Murder

Reactions

See also

References