THE HAGUE, Netherlands – In a 13-page verdict read before about 300
people inside a church in this city March 25, the Permanent Peoples'
Tribunal (PPT) found both Philippine President Gloria M. Arroyo and
U.S. President George W. Bush, Jr. and their respective governments as
responsible for gross and systematic violations of human rights,
economic plunder and transgression of the Filipino people's
sovereignty, were.
The verdict, read at the conclusion of the five-day second session on
the Philippines by François Houtart, Session President, described the
extrajudicial killings, forced disappearances, massacres, torture and
other atrocities allegedly committed by the Arroyo government as
"crimes against humanity". Such violations which the PPT said were in
no way justified as "necessary measures against terrorism", must be
stopped immediately.
In a cultural program held right after the verdict was read, Senator
Jamby Madrigal said the Tribunal's judgment will dispel the claims of
the Arroyo government that there is democracy in the Philippines. The
senator, who spoke as a resource person during the tribunal
proceedings, said that the country is now ruled by a military junta
with Mrs. Arroyo acting only as a figurehead.
The concluding part of the Tribunal took place at the Pax Christikerk
in The Hague. The Hague is the Netherlands' seat of government and the
world's center of international law. It hosts the International Court
of Justice (ICJ), the new International Criminal Court (ICC) of the
Rome Statute of 1998, and the International Criminal Tribunal for the
Former Yugoslavia (ICTFY) that tried Milosevic, the deposed president
of Yugoslavia for war crimes.
The Tribunal, composed of six internationally-eminent persons, also
named the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), as having "a central
role" in the atrocities, adding that the military is "a structural
component and instrument of the policy of the 'war on terror' in the
Philippines" declared by both Arroyo and Bush, Jr.
The verdict was rendered after three continuous session days that
heard the testimonies of witnesses of political killings and
abductions, expert testimonies and boxes of documents, and other
evidences to support three major charges against the two governments.
The charges were on: violations of the Filipino people's civil and
political rights; economic, political, and cultural rights; and
violations of the people's rights to national self-determination and
national liberation.
The number of victims of extrajudicial killings in the Philippines has
reached 839 this week. Hundreds of others were victims of frustrated
murders and abductions, widely believed to be perpetrated by
government security forces. This report has been confirmed by the UN
Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, involuntary or summary
executions, and by the government-created Melo Commission.
In the Tribunal, several testimonies of eyewitnesses, experts and
resource persons were heard live through tele-video conference with
Manila, with questions tossed by members of the Tribunal's jury.
Those who gave depositions and testimonies either in person or through
video hook-up included Marie Hilao-Enriquez, secretary general of
human rights alliance Karapatan; Dr. Constancio "Chandu" Claver,
victim of frustrated murder; Dr. June P. Lopez, an expert in handling
torture and trauma victims; Navy Capt. (ret.) Danilo Vizmanos; UP
Faculty Regent Prof. Roland Simbulan; Bishop Elmer Bolocon of the UCCP
and Ecumenical Bishops Forum (EBF); Elmer Labog, chair of Kilusang
Mayo Uno (KMU); and Danilo Ramos of the Kilusang Magbubukid ng
Pilipinas (KMP).
Senator Madrigal also appeared before the PPT as resource person on
the environment.
'Unacceptable'
The Tribunal jurors also denounced as "unacceptable" the inclusion of
the Arroyo government in the UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC). The
Philippine membership, the jurors said, undermines the credibility of
the United Nations particularly in human rights, and is "an
intolerable offense" to the victims.
Aside from Houtart, who is from Belgium and Director of the Centre
Tricontinental (Cetri), the PPT jurors included Oda Makoto (Japan),
well-known novelist and social activist; Ties Prakken (The
Netherlands), professor in criminal law Maastricht University; Oystein
Tveter (Norway), lawyer and former Director of the Karibu Foundation
and former foreign ministry official in South Africa and Zambia; Irene
Fernandez (Malaysia), lawyer, social development expert and head of
Tenaganita; and Lilia Solano (Colombia), 2005 Right Livelihood Awardee
(alternative Nobel) and Director of Project for Life and Peace.
Richard Falk (USA), professor emeritus of international law at
Princeton University and Hans Köechler (Austria), president of the
International Progress Organizations could not make it due to academic
commitments.
Houtart and Makoto were also members of the jury during the first
session on the Philippines in 1980 held in Antwerp, Belgium, which
found the Marcos dictatorship guilty for gross and systematic
violations of human rights, among others. That verdict became a major
factor in the international isolation of the Marcos dictatorship that
eventually led to its ouster six years later.
PPT General Secretary Gianni Tognoni served as moderator of the proceedings.
Houtart said that although the verdict may be legally non-binding, it
is nevertheless "morally binding". The judgment will be transmitted to
the United Nations, the International Court of Justice, the European
Parliament and various foreign governments. Tognoni said that the
transmittal to these bodies will be a major step toward focusing world
attention on the human rights crisis in the Philippines. World
opinion, the PPT general secretary said, will add more pressure to the
U.S.-supported Arroyo government to stop the killings.
FOR REFERENCE:
Angelica M. Gonzales, MD
Executive Director, International Coordinating Secretariat
Permanent Peoples' Tribunal (PPT)
Second Session on the Philippines
secretariat@philippinetribunal.org
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