Position on Human Rights Issues
The Counsels for the
Defense of Liberties (CODAL) urges the Senate to remove Sen. Juan Ponce
Enrile as chairman of the Human Rights Committee for his anti-human rights
position, shown by ramming the Anti-Terrorism Bill in the Senate and for
his lack of respect for the rights of others by threatening to slap
another senator who objects to his sponsored bill. CODAL also seriously
urges President Gloria Arroyo to abolish the Melo Commission, condemns the
killing of Bp. Alberto Ramento and reiterates its call for President
Arroyo to act swiftly to stop the killings of activists.
BY THE COUNSELS FOR
THE DEFENSE OF LIBERTIES
Posted by Bulatlat
The Counsels for the
Defense of Liberties (CODAL) urges the Senate to remove Sen. Juan Ponce
Enrile as chairman of the Human Rights Committee for his anti-human rights
position, shown by ramming the Anti-Terrorism Bill in the Senate and for
his lack of respect for the rights of others by threatening to slap
another senator who objects to his sponsored bill. CODAL finds it
incomprehensible why majority of the Senators voted Senator Enrile to the
committee when he is sponsoring a bill considered anathema to civil
liberties by the human rights community.
Senator Enrile, who
helped implement martial law, cannot head a committee that will help
implement the compensation of martial law victims considering that he has
consistently refused to acknowledge any wrongdoing during martial law. He
has publicly announced that he is remorseless for his role as martial law
defense minister and it is fair for the Senate to withdraw their votes for
his chairmanship of the Human Rights Committee. Some CODAL lawyers were
imprisoned during martial law under the direct orders of then Minister
Enrile.
CODAL also seriously
urges President Gloria Arroyo to abolish the Melo Commission pending the
passage of an enabling law implementing her executive order creating a
fact-finding body on the political killings. Such law will define the
process for selecting the members, the procedure and the powers of the
body. CODAL notes that although the Davide Commission was created through
Administrative Order No. 146, President Corazon Aquino waited for Congress
to pass a law before constituting the Commission. Congress passed Republic
Act No. 6832 which expressly granted the Davide Commission contempt powers
and the power to grant immunity.
Without the
appropriate procedures that will generate credibility for a fact finding
body, contempt powers that will ensure production of witnesses and
evidence and the power to grant immunity, the Melo Commission is nothing
but a “gatherer” of evidence as Sec. Eduardo Ermita himself called the
still-born Truth Commission on electoral fraud. Malacañang previously
proposed the creation of a truth commission to look into the Garcillano
scandal through an administrative order “that will be patterned after the
Davide Commission ….which was reinforced by a legislation passed by
Congress. CODAL wishes to remind Malacanang that Sec. Ermita once said
that ‘Without legislation, its (the fact finding body) just a gathering of
facts.”
CODAL also condemns
the killing of Bp. Alberto Ramento and reiterates its call for President
Arroyo to act swiftly to stop the killings of activists.
Bishop Ramento was an
outspoken critic of President Arroyo and had been an active member of the
Presidium of the Citizens’ Congress for Truth and Accountability (CCTA).
He voted to find President Arroyo culpable for graft and corruption,
electoral fraud and human rights violations in the CCTA verdict.
CODAL urges the
police not to hastily conclude that the killing was an ordinary case of
robbery as it may mislead investigators and cause the real criminals to
escape investigation. Posted by Bulatlat
BACK TO
TOP ■
PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION ■
COMMENT
© 2006 Bulatlat
■
Alipato Media Center
Permission is granted to reprint or redistribute this article, provided
its author/s and Bulatlat are properly credited and notified.