KARAPATAN Alliance for the Advancement of People’s Rights – Philippines is a national alliance of human rights organizations, desks and individual advocates working for the promotion and protection of human rights in the Philippines. Its founders and members have been in the forefront of the human rights struggle in the country since the time of Marcos' martial law regime. KARAPATAN was established in 1995 and is a duly registered non-governmental organization with the Philippine Securities and Exchange Commission.
KARAPATAN has sixteen regional chapters in the country and has more than forty member organizations. KARAPATAN has consistently addressed the issues of extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, political prisoners and militarization. The Alliance helps in organizing mass actions that expose human rights violations and challenge State policies and actions that promote the culture of impunity.
KARAPATAN documents human rights violations through fact-finding missions and quick reaction response; files cases through courts, even quasi-judicial bodies like the Commission on Human Rights, and the United Nations and other international human rights bodies; refers victims to medical professionals and groups for psycho-social and other medical help; and organizes victims of human rights violations and their families.
It also monitors the peace negotiations between the Philippine government and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines, and the compliance to the Comprehensive Agreement on the Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law and other previous agreements.
