PPT general secretary Dr. Gianni Tognoni
answers a question from a reporter during a program marking the convening
of the Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal (PPT) Second Session on the Philippines
in The Hague, The Netherlands, Oct. 30. With him (l-r) are Rep. Teddy
Casino, Sen. Jamby Madrigal, and Jan Fermon of the Progress Law Network of
Belgium. In a parallel program at the University of the Philippines in
Diliman, Quezon City, Romeo Capulong, lead counsel for the prosecution and
former UN Judge ad litem, reads the indictment against President Gloria
Macapagal-Arroyo. PHOTO BY ARKIBONG BAYAN
Families of victims
of extra-judicial executions and other crimes filed Oct. 30 charges of
systematic and gross human rights violations against President Gloria M.
Arroyo before the Permanent People’s Tribunal (PPT) in Den Haag, The
Netherlands. The unprecedented move indicates two major trends in the
human rights struggle in the Philippines. One is that the country’s legal
system has lost all its credibility forcing victims of political
persecution to seek justice through other legal mechanisms accessible in
the international community. The other is that the struggle for human
rights, which was born during the Marcos dictatorship, has once again been
cast into the global limelight as part of the people’s overall struggle
for comprehensive social and political reform.
Mrs. Arroyo, along
with the Bush government, the International Monetary Fund-World Bank-World
Trade Organization (IMF-WB-WTO), was charged with gross and systematic
violations of civil and political rights (extra-judicial killings,
abduction and disappearances, massacres, torture, etc); gross and
systematic violations of economic, social and cultural rights; and gross
and systematic violations of the right to national self-determination and
liberation. The PPT will hold the trial in March 2007.
The Hague,
incidentally, is also the seat of the International Criminal Court (ICC),
the International Criminal Court for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTFY) and the
United Nations’ International Court of Justice (ICJ). War criminals
including former heads of state and erring generals have been hailed to
these courts for trial.
The complaints were
filed by Hustisya, the organization of families of victims of
politically-motivated crimes under the Arroyo administration; SELDA and
other groups during the PPT’s Second Session on the Philippines. The
second session is being held in response to an urgent appeal from the
victims of violations of human rights and people's rights seeking justice
and redress.
President George W.
Bush, Jr. is also a subject of the indictment for supporting Arroyo’s
counter-insurgency-terrorism through military aid and training, among
others. The support, as alleged in the indictment, has led to the
escalation of the political persecution of persons and groups – tagged as
“enemies of the state” – that have called for the removal of Mrs. Arroyo
from the presidency, among others.
Mrs. Arroyo is the
second Philippine president to be indicted before the PPT. In 1980, then
President Ferdinand Marcos, together with the U.S. government and other
co-conspirators, was found guilty for violations of people’s rights, human
rights and crimes under international law.
Melo Commission
Based on the latest
news accounts, no relative of victims of human rights violations has
approached the Melo Commission, the fact-finding body formed by the
President on Aug. 21 to investigate the killings and forced disappearances
of activists since 2001. The commission, headed by a former associate
justice of the Supreme Court (SC), has been widely criticized as just a
panel without any legal teeth and whose only function is to clear Mrs.
Arroyo of any responsibility in the alleged crimes.
Using her political
clout in Congress, the President has also thrown out two impeachment
complaints – in 2005 and this year – which include charges of human rights
violations. By junking the impeachment complaints, Mrs. Arroyo closed the
doors to the public clamor for her to tell the truth and what she knows
about the 2004 electoral fraud and her role in the extra-judicial
killings. To date, there have been 764 victims of extra-judicial
executions and 186 victims of forced disappearances.
In seeking justice
before an international court, any victim of human rights violations
should have exhausted all available legal remedies in his or her own
country. Indeed, lawyers and rights watchdogs attest to the fact that in
many cases government’s investigative bodies, including the national
police and National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), have either done no
serious investigation or were seen to be covering up for the alleged
perpetrators, widely believed to be military, paramilitary and, in some
cases, police forces. The Philippine National Police’s (PNP) Task Force
Usig, which was tasked to investigate the killings, lacks credibility for
two reasons: first, its own investigation was based mainly on media
reports, which normally cannot stand in court; and second, it has
consistently shown a prejudgment that the killings are part of the Left’s
internal purge.
Families of the
victims have stopped filing complaints with the Department of Justice (DoJ)
because of precedents where, despite preponderant evidences and
testimonies, initial charges had been summarily dismissed. The DoJ itself
is sitting on about 400 cases already submitted by the Commission on Human
Rights (CHR) for prosecution. The department has shown it cannot be relied
upon to prosecute the alleged perpetrators of the killings with the
justice secretary himself perfunctorily dismissing the incidents of human
rights violations as a mere “collateral damage” of government’s
counter-insurgency program.
There are doubts that
the country’s entire judicial system can give legal relief let alone a
fair trial for a rebel, political dissenter or activist. Marcos-vintage
PDs including recent SC rulings uphold warrantless arrests and criminalize
political offenses. It would be a naivete to expect judges to know the
rudiments and nuances of international law and other human rights
instruments – which are supposed to be part of the law of the country – as
to enable them to rule on alleged political offenses based on such
instruments.
Except for partisan
political purposes, the Congress – through its Commission on Appointments
(CA) – does not seriously scrutinize cabinet appointees including generals
deemed unfit for their positions in accordance with its check-and-balance
constitutional role. One proof is the case of Jovito Palparan, tagged as
the “butcher” of activists, whose successive promotions including the rank
of major general passed the CA. Likewise, Congress should be cited for
earmarking fat budgets to the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP)
despite its poor human rights record. Thus Congress has reneged on its
responsibility to ensure that executive policies and other fiats are
consistent with the people’s democratic interest and that their right to
dissent is adequately protected.
Further injustice
This is a country
where seeking justice leads to further injustice, where the culture of
impunity is aggravated by a culture of fear and defenselessness, where a
corrupt and lawless government in all its brazenness invokes the “rule of
law” to justify assaults on democratic rights and civil liberties.
Given the current
circumstances, the quest for justice has been raised to the international
forum that remains open to the families of victims of political murders in
the Philippines. There is no mistaking about the criticalness of this
effort given the logistics and other resources that should be mustered in
bringing the case before the international community.
Before the United
Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) last September, people’s
organizations filed on behalf of the victims of political persecution
complaints of human rights violations against Mrs. Arroyo. In dealing with
the complaints, the Council through its appropriate committees is expected
to investigate the alleged crimes and determine whether the Philippine
government has failed to comply with its obligations to international
laws, conventions and other instruments. Non-compliance with international
law particularly the convention of human, civil and political rights and
other instruments can lead to the forfeiture of the Arroyo government’s
seat in the 47-member UNHRC.
On the other hand,
the PPT is composed of eminent persons and jurors from all over the world.
Although it is not a judicial body with a power to punish, the prestigious
PPT is a forum where a conviction can help mobilize a strong international
condemnation and even pressure against those found guilty. This act can
serve as a signal to world institutions that the quest for justice by
victims of human rights violations in the Philippines is the
responsibility of the international community as well. This can serve
further as political ammunition in the continuing struggle in the
Philippines for the removal of a discredited and repressive
administration. In the end, all these can only imply that the struggle for
human rights can serve the goals of political reform, such as changing a
government, however short-term this may be. Center for People
Empowerment in Governance/ 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.