A US human rights worker was shot outside his home in the Philippines. He was branded an 'enemy of the state' in 2015

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A US human rights worker was shot outside his home in the Philippines. He was branded an 'enemy of the state' in 2015

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  • A US human rights worker is in critical condition after being shot in front of his home in the Philippines, as activists and rights workers continue to be targeted in the country's crackdown on dissent.
  • According to Cordillera Peoples Alliance, a local indigenous rights group, Brandon Lee, 37, was shot multiple times around 6 p.m. local time outside of his home in Ifugao on Tuesday in what they called an "attempted extrajudicial killing."
  • Lee, a human rights worker and paralegal volunteer for the Ifugao Peasant Movement, is a US citizen and has lived in the Philippines for 10 years.
  • According to The Guardian, as far back as 2015 Lee and several other Ifugao Peasant Movement activists were branded as "enemy of the state." They were accused of being part of the New People's Army (NPA), the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines which was designated as a terror group by President Rodrigo Duterte in 2017. The activists have denied being part of the rebel group, though the rumors persist on social media.
  • UK-based watchdog Global Witness said in a report in 2018 that the Philippines was found to be the deadliest country for environmental activists in the world, with more than three people murdered each week in 2018 for their activism.
  • Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

A US human rights worker is in critical condition after being shot in front of his home in the Philippines, as activists and rights workers continue to be targeted in the country's crackdown on dissent.

Cordillera Peoples Alliance said Lee is a human rights worker and paralegal volunteer for both their organization and the Ifugao Peasant Movement, a local farmers group that opposes military presence in villages in the north's Cordillera region. Lee was also a correspondent for the online newspaper Northern Dispatch, according to Rappler, and penned articles critical of military presence in rural farmlands. 

Prior to the incident, the group said Lee, 37, along with other Ifugao Peasant Movement activists, received death threats.

"The shooting incident that led to Brandon's severe injuries is the latest incident of attacks against indigenous peoples' rights defenders and advocates under Duterte's de facto martial rule in the whole Philippines," the group said in a statement.

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Lee, a US citizen who previously attended San Francisco State University, has lived in the Philippines for 10 years and is a permanent resident there where he resides in Ifugao with his wife and daughter.

"We are also making an urgent appeal to the US Embassy to protect Brandon who continues to be surveilled even while he is hospitalized and fighting for his life," the group claimed in a Facebook post.

According to The Guardian, as far back as 2015 Lee and several other Ifugao Peasant Movement activists were branded as "enemy of the state." They were accused of being part of the New People's Army (NPA), the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines which was designated as a terror group by President Rodrigo Duterte in 2017. The activists have denied being part of the rebel group, though the rumors persist on social media. 

Lee is not the first activist from the Ifugao Peasant Movement to be targeted by gunmen. In 2018, two men shot and killed a 52-year-old activist who had voiced opposition against a hydroelectric power project planned for Ifugao.

Cordillera Human Rights Alliance, alongside other rights groups, submitted a policy paper to a US human rights caucus in 2015 on threats made against activists in the region.

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"We urgently call on the people to voice out your concern and call for justice for Brandon and other human rights violations victims," the group said in a statement on Wednesday. "The attacks on human rights defenders must end."

UK-based watchdog Global Witness said in a report in 2018 that the Philippines was found to be the deadliest country for environmental activists in the world, with more than three people murdered each week in 2018 for their activism.

Last year, the Duterte administration created a 600-person terror watchlist and declared a top UN human rights investigator as an affiliate of terrorists.

UN Special Rapporteur Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, a Philippine investigator who specializes in the rights of indigenous peoples, was listed alongside communist rebels and members of the NPA.

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"The [Philippine] government sees this as an opportunity to pursue people they don't like. I am worried for my safety and the safety of others on the list, including several rights activists," Tauli-Corpuz told Reuters in 2018.

Human Rights Watch researcher Carlos Conde called the 55-page filing a "virtual government hit list" and said the list puts over 600 people "at grave risk" of government retaliation.

"There's a long history in the Philippines of the state security forces and pro-government militias assassinating people labeled as NPA members or supporters," he said.

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