MANILA – President Rodrigo Duterte was convicted by the International People’s Tribunal (IPT) for human rights violations on Wednesday in Belgium, Brussels (Thursday in Manila).
The verdict of the IPT was set to be forwarded to the United Nations Human Rights Council, the European Parliament and the International Criminal Court in The Hague.
“We heard the summary of testimonies of witnesses – many of them heartwarming, traumatic and horrific – experts and resource persons, as well as the digest of wealth of data, information, facts, and other evidences,” the IPT said.
The IPT is a global court convened by the European Association of Lawyers for Democracy and World Human Rights, the Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyers, the International Association of Democratic Lawyers, the IBON International, and the International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines.
“The guilty verdict would serve as a message and lesson that justice and accountability cannot detained forever, that there will come a time when victims of these atrocities will be able to get the justice that have eluded them so far,” the tribunal added.
Local organizations in the Philippines led by Bagong Alyansang Makabayan and Karapatan raised 21 cases or incidents against Duterte before the IPT, read a statement released by the tribunal’s media unit.
“These cases can fall into these categories: violations on economic, social and cultural rights, violations on civil and political rights, and violations on the right to self-determination,” the statement read.
The indictment against Duterte cited violations of civil and political rights through extrajudicial killings, massacres, arbitrary arrests, torture, political persecution, and rights violations arising from the imposition of martial law in Mindanao.
Among those who testified against Duterte at the IPT were Australian missionary Patricia Fox and Sultan Hamidullah Atar of Marawi City./PN
