A/HRC/44/22 Elisa Badayos and Eleuterio Moises – human rights defenders From 26 to 28 November 2017, Elisa Badayos, a long-time human rights defender and an NGO coordinator for Central Visayas, led a team of 30 individuals on a fact-finding mission to Negros Island. The purpose of the mission was to investigate and document human rights violations allegedly committed by private security guards, the Citizen Armed Force Geographical Units (CAFGUs), and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP). The team also included Eleuterio Moises, member of the local peasant organization, Mantapi Ebwan Farmers’ Association. On the last day of their mission, 28 November, at around 2:40 p.m., Badayos and Moises were shot dead by motorcycle-riding gunmen. Members of the fact-finding team recalled in interviews with OHCHR how on 28 November, in Bayawan city, their vehicle was stopped by a group of armed guards. Some of the guards were reportedly members of the CAFGU. The men reportedly worked for an influential local family with close ties to the municipal government. The guards brandished their weapons and asked the team about the purpose of the mission. The team showed the guards the municipal permit they had obtained to conduct their work. The armed men relented and allowed the team to proceed. The fact-finding team separated into smaller groups and conducted interviews with victims and witnesses. Badayos and her team spoke to farmers who told them that security guards employed by a powerful local politician were attempting to drive farmers off the land. After the interviews with farmers, Badayos, Moises and other colleagues got on two motorbike to go to the Nangkay barangay hall in Bayawan to file a police report on the harassment they had faced from the armed men. The team that witnessed the killing recalls noticing they were being followed by masked armed men on another motorbike. The witnesses say that Badayos, Moises and another colleague were shot – and the gunmen took pictures of their victims before driving off. Badayos and Moises were pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital, while the third colleague survived. Elisa Badayos’ daughter Jimmylisa was part of the mission: “I recall my mission colleague receiving a call informing us that something happened to my mother. My heart sank.” The Philippine National Police opened an investigation into the incident but despite witness testimonies and CCTV footage capturing the suspects on a motorbike, the case remains unsolved. A Commission on Human Rights investigation concluded that while human rights violations have been committed in the attack, failure to collect evidence has precluded the case from moving forward. Colleagues of the murdered human rights defenders and labour activists shared with OHCHR the continued threats they have been receiving on social media in relation to their work in Bohol, Cebu and Negros, and told also of intimidating visits from individuals who introduce themselves as representatives of the Government. Elisa Badayos is survived by her four children, including Jimmylisa. Elisa’s husband Jimmy Badayos, a labour organizer, disappeared in 1990 after being arrested and taken away by police in Cebu city. His fate and whereabouts remain unknown. The Lozano brothers – on a drug watch list According to the Philippine National Police, brothers Crisanto (34) and Juan Carlos Lozano (31) were killed on 12 May 2017 after a robbery incident in Arboretum, Quezon City. The police report claimed that three men allegedly took a mobile phone of a victim at gunpoint and then fled in a passenger “jeepney” vehicle. Police allegedly caught up with the trio a few kilometers down the highway, and after a shootout, killed all three suspects. Officers said they recovered two guns – .38 caliber and .45 caliber – beside the bodies of Crisanto and Juan Carlos. Both victims were on the barangay’s “drug watch list”. According to victims’ relatives interviewed by OHCHR, the day before the killing, the two brothers had gone out early to see their uncle and to get clearances and referrals for work. After failing to hear from the brothers throughout the day, the family grew worried. They printed out the brothers’ pictures and started approaching police stations throughout 21