permanent peoples tribunal 2


PRESS COMMUNIQUÉ International Coordinating Secretariat Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal Second Session on the Philippines 22 March 2007 TRIBUNAL DAY ONE: US-Arroyo rights violations recall horrors of Marcos dictatorship “The political killings and the intensity of the repression under the Arroyo regime have brought back the horrors of the Marcos dictatorship,” stressed Marie Hilao-Enriquez, Secretary-General of the human rights alliance Karapatan. Hilao-Enriquez was replying to a question from the jurors of the Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal (PPT) Second Session on the Philippines , which started hearings on the indictment brought against the Gloria Arroyo and Bush governments in The Hague , The Netherlands yesterday, 21 March. The Karapatan official presented expert testimony on the Philippine human rights situation. Jury member Makoto Oda , Japan ’s renowned and respected novelist and social activist, asked Hilao-Enriquez about the effects of the current repression on her person. Oda was also a juror during the first session on the Philippines of the PPT in 1980 in Antwerp , in which the Tribunal found the Marcos dictatorship guilty of grave and numerous economic and political crimes against the Filipino people. The other juror from the first session, Prof. François Houtart of Belgium , is now president of the second session. The Tribunal session began with Ms. Carmencita Karagdag of the Peace for Life presiding over a ceremony for a just and lasting peace. She also read a message from Nobel Peace Prize laureate Archbishop Desmond Tutu. In his message, Archbishop Tutu called on President Arroyo “to stop the terror inflicted on those who seek justice in your land”. An ecumenical invocation then followed with Old Catholic Church of Utrecht Archbishop Joris Vercammen and United Church of Christ Bishop Elmer Bolocon leading the prayers. Secretary General Gianni Tognoni of the PPT acted as session moderator. He presented the members of the jury and explained the procedures followed by the Tribunal. He said that since the Tribunal was founded, it has had 33 sessions that are symbolic and are instrumental in conducting hearings and pinpointing accountability. Tognoni said that the Tribunal had formally notified the Philippine and US governments about the indictment and to cite their defense. He then asked if there was a representative of the Philippine government in the audience who was willing to cite its defense. UN Judge ad litem Romeo T. Capulong, as Chief Prosecutor, provided the opening statement which was read by BAYAN Chairperson Carol Pagaduan-Araullo. Due to pressing legal work to defend Congressman Satur Ocampo, Judge Capulong was not able to attend the session. In his place, prominent Belgian lawyer Jan Fermon presented the case for the prosecution on the charge of gross and systematic violations of civil and political rights. Ms. Hilao-Enriquez not only presented expert testimony on the Philippine human rights situation but also her own experience under political repression. In an emotionally-charged testimony, she said she is deeply saddened and disturbed to have already lost 31 colleagues. Merely documenting human rights cases, she said, can be dangerous, and that just being labeled a communist could cost one his life. The members of the jury heard depositions from the following: 1) Jonathan Sta. Rosa, witness to the extrajudicial killing of his brother, Rev. Isaias Sta. Rosa; 2) Dr. Chandu Claver, survivor-witness to the extrajudicial killing of his wife Alyce Omengan-Claver; 3) Linda Cadapan, mother of enforced disappearance victim Shirley Cadapan 4) “Jolibee”, witness to the abduction of Shirley Cadapan, Karen Empeño and Merino; 5) UCCP Bishop Elmer Bolocon who spoke on behalf of the 16 UCCP pastors who have been murdered. The jury posed questions at Virgilio Catoy, a victim-witness to the abduction and murder of human rights activists Eden Marcellana and Eddie Gumanoy. Jan Fermon, who acted as co-prosecutor, drew the attention of the jurors to the following pattern in the cases of extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances: -all victims were activists in the people’s movement; -there is a pattern of politically-motivated killings, not just simple killings; -the organizations targeted are in the official list of the Armed Forces of the Philippines as front organizations of the Communist Party of the Philippines, New People’s Army and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines; before an assassination, the military collects information from family and friends, including taking photos or asking questions; -there is direct evidence linking the military in some cases. The Sta. Rosa and Cadapan cases were cited as examples; -the modus operandi – an unidentified vehicle that ambushes a victim or two men on a motorcycle carrying out the assassination; -AFP officials immediately deny involvement but would at the same time blame the revolutionary movement and besmirch the reputation of the victims; i-ntimidation of witnesses. Some witnesses became victims themselves; - a judicial system that dismisses cases because no witnesses could be presented. >>> These elements, he stressed, are important points to consider for the jurors’ verdict. Jury president Houtart, in closing the first day of the hearing, said that “the testimonies presented so far have been very impressive”. # FOR REFERENCE: Angelica M. Gonzales, MD International Coordinating Secretariat Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal Second Session on the Philippines secretariat@philippinetribunal.org www.philippinetribunal.org


			Screen shots of the video conference successfully done a few hours after the opening. technical staff tweaking configuration for the video conferencing.

			Bishop Elizier Pascua of the United Church of Christ delivers the opening remarks, while Ruth Cervantes, right, of KARAPATAN, explains what the Permanent Peoples' Tribunal is.

			Ms. Rosario Bella Guzman of Ibon Foundation initroduces the groups or organizations that initiated the second session on the Philippines of the Tribunal.

			Film Director Joel Lamangan delivers a poem, left; Chikoy Pura renders a song about human rights.

			The People's Chorale sing BAYAN KO, registration


			Jess Santiago, singer/composer, sings about human rights
			Download Communique in txt format ► Opening day press statement ► Nobel Peace Prize Recipient Bishop Desmond Tutu pushes for trial against Gloria Arroyo ► Invitation to the Second Session on the Philippines in the case of the Filipino People against the Arroyo Regime and others

Slides from the BAYAN powerpoint About the Permanent People's Tribunal on the Second Session on the Philippines Download powerpoint in PDF format


Richard Falk (USA) is Professor Emeritus of International Law at Princeton University and Santa Barbara University . A UNESCO peace prize holder, Professor Falk has published over 30 books on international law and human rights, the most recent one entitled Declining World Order. He is also chairperson of the board of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, founded in 1982 to support worldwide efforts to abolish nuclear weapons, to strengthen international law and institutions, and to inspire and empower a new generation of peace leaders. It has consultative status to the United Nations Economic and Social Council and is recognized by the UN as a Peace Messenger Organization.	Oda Makoto (Japan), a novelist and social activist, is “one of Japan’s most celebrated postwar authors, an activist against the U.S. war on Vietnam, an advocate for disaster victims neglected by the Japanese government, a voice for peace in the wake of 11 September 2001, an uncompromising critic of racial and ethnic discrimination — Oda has been right there in the midst of the heat, using the power of his words to appeal to the “conscience of society”. “For Oda and many of his generation in Japan , war was not just something to be read about in history books or to be watched on flickering newsreels: It was something they lived, or didn’t live, through. That war, for better or worse, was the seminal event in Oda’s life. It is safe to say that telling the world the truth about what wars do to ordinary people has been something of his life’s mission ever since.”		Irene Fernandez ( Malaysia ) is a campaigner for the rights of the poorest: migrant workers, farm workers, domestic workers, prostitutes and AIDS sufferers. She is a trade unionist, women’s and consumers’ rights advocate. She is a founding member and director of the Asia Pacific Women Law and Development (APWLD), a regional organization designed to bring together women lawyers and activists to look at women's law across the Far East . Fernandez also founded the Tenaganita organization, which she still runs, in 1991 in Kuala Lumpur , which campaigns for the rights of foreign workers, up to three million of whom are in Malaysia . She was a recipient of the 2005 Right Livelihood Award, considered as the parallel Nobel Prize, "... for her outstanding and courageous work to stop violence against women and abuses of migrant and poor workers."

Dr. François Houtart ( Belgium ) who will serve as President of the jury of the PPT Second Session on the Philippines , is a Catholic priest and Director of the Belgium-based Centre Tricontinental (Cetri) whose objective is to promote dialogue and cooperation between third world social movements and social forces and encourage resistance and action. He has a degree at the International Superior Institute of Urbanism ( Brussels , Belgium ), and a PhD in sociology from the Catholic University of Leuven (UCL), where he served as a professor from 1958 until 1990. He is an author and co-author of numerous publications on socio-religious matters. He has been the chief editor of the International Journal of Sociology of Religion, "Social Compass" for forty years. He participated as a peritus expert in the sessions of Vatican II (1962-1965). Houtart is one of the most active members of the World Social Forum of Porto Alegre. Today he is very much active in the Globalization and Ethics discourse.	Lilia Solano ( Colombia ) is Professor of Social and Political Sciences at the National University in Bogota . She is a human and migrant rights activist and Director of the Project for Life and Peace, a member of the Coordination of The National Movement of Victims of State-Sponsored Crimes. She is a 2005 Right Livelihood Awardee (alternative Nobel). In 2003 she helped organize a series of conferences in the University on the history of violence in Colombia . One of these covered the government's process of dialogue with army-backed paramilitaries. Following this conference, a website maintained by one of the largest paramilitary groups accused Lilia Solana and other organizers of being "ideóloga de la narcoguerrilla", (meaning that she was championing the cause of "drug-trafficking guerrillas"), and of "dirtying the minds of students" ("ensuciar las mentes de los estudiantes"). In the past those accused of supporting the guerrillas in this way have later been attacked or killed by the security forces or their paramilitary allies.		Dr. phil., Dr. h.c., University Professor of Philosophy Chairman, Dept. of Philosophy, University of Innsbruck, Austria Visiting Professor, Polytechnic University of the Philippines, Manila Life Fellow, International Academy for Philosophy Fields of research: Philosophical anthropology, phenomenology, existential philosophy, cultural hermeneutics, human rights, philosophy of law, international relations, political philos
	THE JURORS Oystein Tveter
Ties Prakken ( Holland ), a Dutch lawyer and Professor in criminal law at Maastricht University . She is one of the founders of the Böhler Franken Koppe Wijngaarden advocaten (BFKW), a dynamic Amsterdam law firm which has 18 attorneys with accomplished track records. The BFKW is prominent in the Netherlands for operating on the cusp between politics and law, where the power of the state comes into conflict with the rights of the individual. Among those that the BFKW have defended: Volkert van der G for the murder of politician Pim Fortuyn; the ‘Hague rappers’ who threatened right-wing Dutch politician Ayaan Hirsi Ali; the protestors who threw ketchup at the right-wing minister for Immigration and Integration, Rita Verdonk; and those who demonstrated against the marriage between the Dutch crown prince and Maxima Zorreguieta. It also dealt with numerous politically sensitive extradition cases, such as those of Nuriye Kesbir and Abdullah Öcalan, leaders of the PKK; the Iraqi islamist Mullah Krekar; Paul Watson, one of the founders of Greenpeace; and Juanra, an alleged member of ETA; and represented the relatives of the victims of the Srebrenica massacre in their case against the Dutch state.	Oystein Tveter ( Norway ) is a lawyer and former Director of the Karibu Foundation, an Oslo-based organization helping rehabilitate children of war in Rwanda . He is a former Norwegian Foreign Ministry Official in Zambia and South Africa and a former executive of the Norwegian Church Aid and the Centre for Partnership in Development, also in Oslo , Norway . In 2002, he delivered a speech at the International Ecumenical Conference on Terrorism in a Globalized World in Manila . Oystein was awarded the most coveted King’s Golden Medal of Merit for his “lifelong engagement in the development of human rights and international solidarity work”. County Governor Hans Rorjorde, who presented the award on behalf of Norway ’s king His Majesty King Harald V, also cited Oystein’s “outstanding service” in the “frontline state” of Botswana and also South Africa under apartheid where he sought to promote understanding of and support for the liberation struggle		Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal President: Salvatore Senese Secretary General: Gianni Tognoni Manager Secretariat: Giuliana Pisani Via della Dogana Vecchia,5 00186 Roma Tel./ Fax: 0039 06 6877774 pptribunal@internazionaleleliobasso.it; filb@iol.it www.internazionaleleliobasso.it







BONUS TRACKS December 2005 Postcards produced by ADIOS GMA! (Artists for Democracy and the Immediate Ouster of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo) and KARAPATAN.



		Download: Music video tribute to the Nestle workers led by Diosdado Fortuna whose killing in 2005 is one of the human rights cases taken at the Permanent Peoples' Tribunal


The Permament Peoples' Tribunal (PPT2) opened at The Hague on March 21,2007. A program was held at the Sulo Hotel by the Philippine initiators who explained the major work to be done by the Tribunal. Left photo shows part of the media and public at the public viewing venue. Right photo, taken a few hours later at the media room of one of the initiators, BAYAN, shows a video conference screen shot: of the jurors asking questions to Jonathan Sta. Rosa, one of the witnesses to the murder of Pastor Isaias Sta Rosa by military operatives in Albay in 2006. Visit the website of the Philippine Tribunal

Renato Reyes, left, Secretaray General of BAY AN, explains the significance of the second session of the Permanent Peoples' Tribunal to the Filipino people. Film director Joel Lamangan recites a poem by poet and political detainee Axel Pinpin.