International
tribunal to hear rights violations in the Philippines launched
Press Release
March 12, 2015
QUEZON CITY – An
international tribunal to try cases of human rights violations under
the presidency of Benigno S. Aquino III has been launched today at the
University of the Philippines, Diliman Quezon City.
Dubbed as the International
People’s Tribunal (IPT), the initiative will bring into focus the
ongoing human rights violations in the Philippines and hold Pres.
Aquino and the government of the United States as represented by Pres.
Barrack Obama to account before the international community.
“Beneath the
liberal-democratic façade of the Aquino regime, brutal repression of
people’s civil and political rights abound, with hundreds of cases of
extra-judicial killings and forced disappearances and massive
displacement of families,” according to Cristina Palabay of Karapatan,
one of the complainants to the IPT.
The IPT will also probe into
the role of the increasing US military presence and intervention in
the Philippines in worsening the state of human rights in the country.
“The Mamasapano operation
raises questions over the extent of the US military’s involvement in
Philippine domestic security. Meanwhile, the Philippine government’s
failure to assert jurisdiction over US marine officer Joseph Scott
Pemberton for the murder of Jennifer Laude highlights how unequal ties
between the US and the Philippines invite impunity,” according to
Vanessa Lucas of the US-based National Lawyers Guild, one of the
convenors of the IPT.
The Chairperson of the
International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines and
another IPT Convenor, Reverend Canon Barry Naylor, explained that the
IPT, although judicially non-binding, is symbolic and significant.
“People’s tribunals have had
success in directing international attention to grave abuses of human
rights in various countries including the Philippines during the
Marcos and Arroyo regimes. The IPT draws inspiration and builds on the
momentum of previous peoples’ tribunals to advance human rights and
hold governments to account,” he said.
In 2008, a US Senate
investigation on human rights violations in the Philippines under
former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo led to restrictions on a
portion of the annual US military aid package to the Philippine
government tied to the implementation of strong human rights
recommendations by US advocates.
The IPT is set to convene on
July 16-18, 2015 in Washington DC. Former US Congresswoman and peace
advocate Cynthia McKinney will be among the distinguished panel of
jurors who will hear live testimonies of witnesses from the
Philippines.
Conveners of the tribunal
include the International Coalition for Human Rights in the
Philippines (ICHRP), the National Lawyers Guild (NLG), the
International Association of Democratic Lawyers (IADL), and IBON
International.
For more information on the
International Peoples Tribunal, visit internationalpeoplestribunal.org.