UN Special Rapporteurs urge courts to release Frenchie Cumpio, Marielle Domequil

CEBU, Philippines – Five UN Special Rapporteurs handling various human rights issues urged Philippine courts to provisionally release journalist Frenchie Mae Cumpio and human rights defender Marielle Domequil, on Thursday, March 5. 

The call was made by UN Special Rapporteurs Irene Khan, Ben Saul, Gina Romero, Mary Lawlor, and Margaret Satterthwaite.

Khan is Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression. 

Saul is Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism. 

Romero is Special Rapporteur on the rights to freedom of assembly and of association. 

Lawlor is Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders. 

Satterthwaite is Special Rapporteur on the independence of judges and lawyers.

The experts emphasized Cumpio and Domequil’s lengthy detention and the supposed lack of due process in their case.

“Frenchie and Marielle have suffered six years of pre-trial detention and a fraught legal process with a string of charges that have been widely criticised as baseless and in retaliation for their human rights work. At a minimum, they should be released on bail while they pursue their appeal,” the UN experts said.

“Given the serious concerns about the unconscionable length of time that the two young women have already spent in detention and the lack of due process, but also a possibility now of provisional release, we urge the court to grant them bail without any further delay,” they added. “Frenchie and Marielle deserve to be free to fight for justice.”

Cumpio and Domequil have been in detention for 6 years since their arrest on February 7, 2020. They had been red-tagged and charged with illegal possession of firearms and detained without bail. A year-and-a-half after their arrest, financing terrorism was added to their charges.

Cumpio and Domequil were convicted of terrorism financing on January 22, and face 12 to 18 years of imprisonment. Their petition for bail was denied on February 13 in a decision signed by Tacloban City Regional Trial Court Branch 45 Judge Georgina Uy Perez. 

The United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner (OHCHR) defines Special Rapporteurs/Independent Experts/Working Groups as “independent human rights experts appointed by the United Nations Human Rights Council.” 

“Together, these experts are referred to as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. While the UN Human Rights office acts as the secretariat for Special Procedures, the experts serve in their individual capacity and are independent from any government or organisation, including OHCHR and the UN,” the UN office said. 

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) welcomed and echoed the calls of the UN experts. 

“President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and his administration must now heed the call, or the international community will continue to protest this flagrant injustice,” CPJ Asia-Pacific Director Beh Lih Yi said. 

On February 13, the CPJ nominated Cumpio for the 2026 Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize in recognition of her courage, commitment, and defense of press freedom. 

The Free Tacloban 5 network also welcomed CPJ’s nomination.

“This affirms that attempts to silence critical voices will not erase the vital role of journalists in holding power to account and defending the rights of the Filipino people,” the group wrote in a Facebook post. – Gwyneth Antonio/Rappler.com

Gwyneth Antonio is a Regions Rappler intern and a senior anthropology student from the University of San Carlos.