PHILIPPINES

Urgent Appeal:

Support the PPT hearing on political killings
and gross violations of Filipino people’s rights

2007 February 19

On March 21-25, the Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal (founded in Italy in 1979) will convene in The Hague, The Netherlands for its Second Session on the Philippines to hear a case filed against the Macapagal-Arroyo government and its “accomplices”, the U.S. government and multi-national agencies, for human rights violations, economic plunder and transgression of the Filipino people’s sovereignty.

A look back: The Pastoral Ecumenical Delegation Visit,
organised by the World Council of Churches and the
Christian Conference of Asia at the invitation of the
National Council of Churches in the Philippines, shown here
on July 20, 2005 at a forum co-sponsored by Peace for Life
in Manila, publicly expressing its call on the Arroyo
government to stop the killings.

One and a half years ago, 411 peace activists (including lawyers, church people and journalists) were reported killed for the causes they espoused. Alarmed by the staggering number, an international delegation of church leaders organised a fact-finding mission to the Philippines and urged the government to put an end to the pattern of killings (see photo). But despite the call, one among innumerable pleas from all over the world, instances of extra-judicial killings did not abate. Today, the number of victims has doubled.

Since the Macapagal-Arroyo government came to power in 2001, Philippine human rights groups have documented more than 800 victims of extrajudicial killings, 357 survivors of attempted politically-motivated murders; 207 victims of abductions and enforced disappearances; tens of thousands of victims of harassment and displacement; and hundreds of instances of torture and physical assault on people exercising their rights to assembly and free speech or in the course of military operations.

Filipinos the world over are crying out for justice and the campaign to put an end to these political murders is steadily gaining much needed international support. The scheduled session of the Tribunal (PPT) in The Hague represents a critical milestone in the Filipino people’s struggle for justice and peace.

The Philippines-based secretariat of Peace for Life appeals to its partners in the international faith community to endorse this important project by signing the Statement of Support prepared by the initiators of the PPT Second Session on the Philippines.

The PPT is a fully independent international opinion tribunal established in 1979 as a direct continuation of the Russell Tribunal on Vietnam and of the 2nd Russell Tribunal on Latin America. It has held more than 30 sessions from 1979 to 2006 and is headed by Italian Supreme Court justice Salvatore Senese (president) and Italian physician Gianni Tognoni (general secretary). Its international secretariat operates at the International Branch of the Lelio Basso Foundation in Rome.

The PPT held its First Session on the Philippines in 1980 to hear the indictment filed against then President Ferdinand Marcos, the U.S. government, international financial institutions and multi-national corporations for violation of human rights and crimes under international law. The PPT delivered a “Guilty” verdict on the case and became the first international body to condemn the U.S.-backed Marcos dictatorship.

The tribunal’s forthcoming session in The Hague is being convened on the plea of Philippine organisations Bayan, Hustisya and Desaparecidos, with the support of Karapatan (human rights group), Ibon Foundation, Philippine Public Interest Law Center, Ecumenical Bishops Forum, United Church of Christ in the Philippines and Peace for Life.

Peace for Life is participating in this initiative through its coordinator, Carmencita Karagdag, who sits in the International Coordinating Secretariat, and some of PfL’s key members/partners who will take part in the actual hearings as jurors—Lilia Solano of Proyecto Justicia y Vida (Colombia); Oystein Tveter, former director of Karibu Foundation (Norway); and Hans Köchler of the International Progress Organization (Austria). Other members of the jury include Fr. Francois Houtart (chairman), Richard Falk, Makoto Oda and Irene Fernandez.

The PfL Secretariat, on behalf of the PPT-2 initiators, appeals for public support of this endeavour in the form of:

• Messages of solidarity;
• Financial contributions;
• Signing the Statement of Support; and
• Dissemination of information on the PPT-2 and on the human rights situation in the Philippines

Please visit the sidebar links for more information on the PPT and the Philippines “Stop the Killings” campaign and how you can support these initiatives.