RELEASE CHANTAL ANICOCHE!
RELEASE CHANTAL ANICOCHE! Hold the Marcos Jr regime and the AFP accountable! Uphold the International Humanitarian Law!
The Asia-Pacific Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines calls for the immediate release of Chantal Anicoche, a 24-year-old Filipino community leader from Maryland who traveled to Mindoro to learn about – and live alongside – the conditions faced by her fellow Filipinos. Chantal was reported missing following successive days of aerial bombings and strafing carried out by the 203rd Infantry Brigade of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) in Abra de Ilog town. These attacks targeted farming communities and Indigenous Mangyan residents in Barangay Cabacao on January 1, under the guise of a “counter-insurgency” operation. These attacks resulted in the deaths of two researchers/students and three Indigenous Mangyan minors, and seriously wounding their mother.
Yesterday, the AFP 203rd Infantry Brigade released a highly staged video which depicts them “finding” Chantal in the forests of Mindoro. In the footage, she appears visibly frightened and possibly under duress, as she is surrounded by armed soldiers and taken to the camp of the 76th Infantry Battalion. In the video, military personnel interrogate Ms. Anicoche and make statements about the alleged presence of firearms and explosives in the area – remarks that raise serious concerns about a possible pretext to fabricate charges of illegal possession of firearms or explosives against her.
To date, Ms. Anicoche remains in military custody. As a civilian, she is entitled to full protection under International Humanitarian Law (IHL), including the Fourth Geneva Convention, which mandates humane treatment and absolute protection from threats, coercion, intimidation, and torture. The AFP has already violated her rights under Article 27 (Protection against insult and public curiosity) by publicly releasing a video of her while in custody. Under IHL, civilians must not be subjected to intimidation or compelled to make statements, nor may they be used for propaganda purposes.
The APCHRP therefore demands the immediate release of Chantal Anicoche, as the AFP has no legal basis to detain her. At present, she has no access to legal counsel, as military forces are preventing lawyers and independent observers from seeing her – an additional violation of her fundamental rights under international law, including the right to due process and access to counsel.
The Coalition further calls for accountability for the regime of Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and the Armed Forces of the Philippines for their grave human rights violations, including blatant breaches of International Humanitarian Law. The coalition stresses that these violations are not isolated incidents but part of a pattern of systematic militarization and a culture of impunity that must be investigated and prosecuted under both national and international law.
Finally, the coalition urges the international community to continue exposing and opposing human rights violations in the Philippines, to strengthen international monitoring and solidarity, and to demand the immediate accountability of those responsible.
#ReleaseChantalAnicoche
