Sidestory: A second look at the cases presented at the International Peoples Tribunal on the Philippines
By ANNE MARXZE D. UMIL
Bulatlat.com
MANILA – Progressive groups welcomed the handing of guilty verdict by the International Peoples Tribunal (IPT) last Saturday, May 18, against Ferdinand Marcos Jr., former President Rodrigo Duterte, the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the United States government for war crimes against the Filipino people and for violations of the International Humanitarian Law (IHL).
In a press conference on May 19, Sunday, Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan) Secretary General Raymond Palatino said the guilty verdict reflects the gross human rights violations under the administration of Marcos Jr. He added that gross rights violations continue because of policies implemented by the administration of Duterte as well as the military aid from the United States.
“The IPT belie Marcos Jr.’s posturing that his administration is different, that it has new ways to address the issues facing the country. But until the government changes its programs, rights violations will continue no matter how many foreign trips Marcos Jr. will do,” Palatino said, adding that Marcos Jr. does not even want to abolish the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC).
Read: Rights group says PH gov’t does not listen to experts
The IPT was held May 17 and 18 in Brussels, Belgium where witnesses gave their testimonies. Among them were former Anakpawis representative Ariel Casilao, Jeany Rose Hayahay of Save Our Schools Network, former Bayan Muna representative Eufemia Cullamat, and Jonila Castro of Akap Ka Manila Bay.
The IPT is a mechanism where evidence is presented to a panel of jurors to render judgment on specific charges. This year, the IPT focused on the war crimes committed in the conduct of the civil war in the Philippines.
The panel of jurors consist of legal experts and prominent human rights personalities. It included Lennox Hinds, professor of Law at Rutgers University and former legal counsel for the African National Congress; Suzanne Adely, president of the National Lawyers Guild (US); Severine De Laveleye, member of the Chamber of Representatives of Belgium; Julen Arzuraga Gumuzio, member of the Basque Parliament; and Archbishop Joris Vercamen, former member of the Central Committee of the World Council of Churches.
Karapatan Legal Counsel Maria Sol Taule said that the IPT is a platform for the victims of human rights violations to tell their stories without fear of reprisal.
“Many of those who gave testimonies in Brussels lament how the mechanisms have failed in the Philippines. Take for example Jonila (Castro) who was abducted, paraded as a surrenderer but she and Jhed (Tamano) were the ones who are facing charges instead of the perpetrators,” Taule said in Filipino.
In a statement, Karapatan said, “For years, the Filipino people have suffered a range of human rights violations as well as violations of international humanitarian law, from political killings, massacres, enforced disappearances and bombings of civilian communities. But due to the lack of domestic redress mechanisms, we have not been able to exact justice and accountability.”
They added that with the verdict from the IPT, “we have judgment from some of the world’s best legal minds and the weight of international public opinion to back the victims’ continuing quest for justice and an end to impunity.”
In a 10-page decision signed by an international panel of jurors, the tribunal found “a steady rise in cases of abduction and enforced disappearance perpetrated by GRP (Government of the Republic of the Philippines) forces against activists.”
“We want to stop the pattern of killings, abductions, and fake surrenders — we want the government to stop equating activists as combatants, and to surface all missing activists. We demand to hold state forces accountable,” stated Jonila Castro, a witness and youth activist with AKAP Ka Manila Bay.
In a statement, Séverine de Laveleye, member of the Belgian Parliament and IPT juror said they “found substantial and compelling evidence of widespread extrajudicial killings, civilian massacres, enforced disappearances, indiscriminate bombings, and other gross violations of international humanitarian law.”
“The atrocities and anti-people policies and actions of Mr. Duterte appear to persist and intensify under the current Marcos Jr. administration,” Laveleye added.
Laveleye said that the decision of the tribunal is “founded on the comprehensive examination of the evidence presented. The testimonies of the witnesses, many of whom have shown tremendous courage by coming forward, played a crucial role in shaping our understanding of the systemic abuses perpetrated under these regimes with the tacit support of the US.”
Meanwhile, the International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP) call on its members, network and people to join their action from May 21 to 27 in response to the guilty verdict of the IPT. (RTS, JJE)
