The Philippines: No winner in ICC-Duterte tussle

June 29, 2018

The International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecutor Fatou Bensouda announced in February the start of a preliminary investigation into a complaint by a Filipino lawyer and two lawmakers which accuse President…

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Following the withdrawal, Mr Duterte threatened to arrest the prosecutor if she conducts an investigation in his country arguing that the Philippines is no longer an ICC member, and therefore, the court…

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https://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opinion/1494394/no-winner-in-icc-duterte-tussle

https://www.rappler.com/newsbreak/fact-check/204263-no-decision-yet-international-criminal-court-duterte

http://cnnphilippines.com/news/2018/06/05/ICC-international-criminal-court-supreme-court.html

http://manilastandardtoday.com/news/top-stories/268027/group-bucks-duterte-move-on-icc.html

https://www.sunstar.com.ph/article/1747820/Manila/Local-News/Group-seeks-to-void-ICC-withdrawal

https://jip.ph/philippines-withdrawal-from-icc-faces-new-challenge-at-sc/

https://www.icc-cpi.int/

https://philippinenmagazin.de/2018/06/26/serie-wie-duterte-supporter-die-oeffentlichkeit-mit-falschen-nachrichten-manipulieren-der-internationale-strafgerichtshof/ (DEUTSCH)

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Colombia/UK: Colombian human rights lawyer Luis Guillermo Perez visits the UK

May 27, 2018

In April 2018 Colombian human rights lawyer Luis Guillermo Pérez visited Europe in order to submit evidence to the International Criminal Court (ICC) on the killings on human rights defenders in Colombia. 2017, the first full year since the signing of the peace agreement in Colombia, was the deadliest on record for human rights defenders, with 121 killed, compared with 60 killings in 2016. The communication argues that the ICC should open an investigation because the Colombian government is failing to investigate the crimes properly and constitute a crime against humanity. In London Luis Guillermo was able to present the ICC communication to different sectors (including members of the Alliance for lawyers at Risk, FCO officials and parliamentarians) and to raise awareness of the situation for human rights defenders in Colombia.

“Colombia is one of the most dangerous countries for human rights defenders. Violent repression of trade unionists, land rights and environmental activists, community leaders,  lawyers, LGBTI activists, journalists and others who stand up for rights is widespread and systematic.” – ICC Dossier from CAJAR and The ECCHR.

Luis Guillermo Pérez Casas is a lawyer with the Colectivo de Abogados José Alvear Restrepo (CAJAR), based in Bogotá. For over 30 years, the work of CAJAR’s lawyers has resulted in landmark decisions that have improved access to justice for many victims of the country’s long-running conflict. They have faced many serious threats for this work, including the assassination of their founder Eduardo Umaña Mendoza and being publically identified as “military targets” by death squads. PBI has accompanied the collective since 1995; monitoring the security situation of the lawyers and thanks to PBI’s international networks, members of CCAJAR have been able to raise their security concerns in front of a wide range of stakeholders.

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https://peacebrigades.org.uk/news/2018-05-21/colombian-human-rights-lawyer-luis-guillermo-perez-visits-uk

https://www.lrwc.org/colombia-end-violence-against-human-rights-defenders-and-social-leaders-joint-letter/

https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2018/may/01/2017-deadliest-year-on-record-colombian-human-rights-defenders

https://peacebrigades.org.uk/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lu%C3%ADs_Guillermo_Per%C3%A9z

https://www.elespectador.com/noticias/judicial/piden-la-cpi-investigar-crimenes-de-defensores-de-derechos-humanos-articulo-754791 (ESPANOL)

https://www.colectivodeabogados.org/ (ESPANOL)

The Philippines: Lawyer behind ICC communication: I fear I’ll be killed anytime

May 7, 2018

The lawyer who sent an information to the International Criminal Court regarding the Philippines’ bloody war on drugs said that he does not go out often because of his constant fear for his life.

Jude Sabio said he has received numerous death threats since ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda announced in February that her office has started a preliminary examination into President Rodrigo Duterte’s anti-narcotics campaign based on the communications he had filed in April 2017.

“Nowadays I do not go out so much in public places. Specifically, I’m afraid that I’ll be killed at any time. Somebody will be just coming and pump a bullet into my head,” Sabio said in an interview with the National Public Radio, a Washington, DC-based media organization, posted May 5.

Sabio, who is also the legal counsel of self-confessed hitman Edgar Matobato, said he has been living in Manila for more than a year because he would feel more vulnerable should he return to his home in Mindanao.

He noted that he is now being viewed as the “foremost villain in the country” for accusing Duterte and other senior government officials of crimes against humanity but the 51-year-old lawyer has no regrets.

“I’m doing this because this is the right thing to do. And the only way that we can achieve justice against the president is to bring this to the ICC because there is no way that this can be done in the country right now,” Sabio told NPR.

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https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2018/05/07/1812978/lawyer-behind-icc-communication-i-fear-ill-be-killed-anytime

https://www.icc-cpi.int/

The Philippines/ICC: Philippine Lawyer Faces Death Threats After Filing Case At The Hague Against Duterte

May 5, 2018

Philippine lawyer Jude Sabio doesn’t get out much these days — not after he accused his country’s enormously popular president, Rodrigo Duterte, of crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

“Nowadays I do not go out so much in public places,” Sabio says. “Specifically, I’m afraid that I’ll be killed at any time. Somebody will be just coming and pump a bullet into my head.”

The stocky Sabio, 51, says he’s received numerous death threats since he filed a complaint against Duterte with the ICC in April 2017. Individuals are able to bring crimes to the attention of the ICC’s prosecutor, who can then choose to investigate.

Even more threats have come since ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda announced in February that her office had started a “preliminary examination” based on Sabio’s complaint.

“I would say that I am being viewed now as the foremost villain in the country because I had the guts and the courage to file a case against the president in the ICC,” Sabio says.

Sabio is living in Manila and has for more than a year. He can’t go back to his home in Mindanao, he says, because he’s afraid he’ll be more vulnerable there.

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https://newsstand.google.com/articles/CAIiEKiG9xqE53Jx-HSrcmpb4ikqFggEKg4IACoGCAow9vBNMK3UCDCvpUk

https://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2018/05/05/608440198/philippine-lawyer-faces-death-threats-after-filing-case-at-the-hague-against-dut

https://www.npr.org/2018/05/03/608291977/meet-the-man-trying-to-hold-philippines-president-rodrigo-duterte-accountable

https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2018/04/07/1803436/aguirres-resignation-wont-free-him-iccs-radar

https://www.hongkongfp.com/2018/04/14/good-riddance-rodrigo-duterte-president-makes-donald-trump-look-good/

http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/nation/650618/roque-icc-members-can-visit-phl-as-tourists/story/

http://www.sunstar.com.ph/article/1576808/Cebu/Local-News/What-if-ICC-officers-get-caught-in-PH

https://www.icc-cpi.int/

https://philippinenmagazin.de/2018/04/13/duterte-droht-ermittlern-des-internationalen-strafgerichtshofs/ (DEUTSCH)

The Philippines: Release of Senator Leila de Lima urged on the one-year anniversary of her detention

February 23, 2018

The Observatory condemns Philippine Senator Leila de Lima’s arbitrary and politically motivated detention, and calls for her immediate release and for all charges against her to be dropped. Tomorrow will mark one year since Senator de Lima, a critic of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, was detained on unsubstantiated drug charges.

“Senator de Lima’s arbitrary detention is aimed at silencing her and intimidating other lawmakers and government critics from speaking out against the brutal killings that have been carried out as part of President Duterte’s ‘war on drugs.’ She should be immediately released and all charges against her dropped,” said FIDH Secretary-General Debbie Stothard.

On February 24, 2017, Ms. Leila de Lima handed herself in to police, a week after the Department of Justice filed three charges against her under the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act, and a day after a Manila court issued a warrant for her arrest. The charges were related to de Lima’s alleged involvement in a drug trafficking ring inside the New Bilibid Prison in Metro Manila’s Muntinlupa City, while she was Department of Justice Secretary. If convicted, de Lima could face between 12 years and life in prison.

De Lima has been a staunch critic of President Duterte’s approach to combatting crimes and drug trafficking. In 2009, as Chair of the Philippine Commission on Human Rights (CHR), she initiated a probe into Duterte’s involvement in the ‘Davao Death Squad’ during his time as mayor of Davao City. In August 2016, as Chair of the Senate Committee on Justice and Human Rights, de Lima convened hearings on the hundreds of killings that had been carried out as part of President Duterte’s ‘war on drugs.’ On September 19, 2016, a group of Senators voted to replace de Lima as Chair of the Committee, effectively shutting down the hearings.

President Duterte has repeatedly targeted de Lima. Prior to her imprisonment, he had pledged to “destroy her in public.” He also made personal attacks against her, accusing de Lima of “immorality” for allegedly having had an affair with her driver.

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http://www.omct.org/human-rights-defenders/urgent-interventions/philippines/2018/02/d24737/

https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2018/02/philippines-detained-duterte-critic-must-be-freed-immediately/

https://www.rappler.com/nation/196703-amnesty-international-release-leila-de-lima

https://news.mb.com.ph/2018/02/23/roque-urges-minority-senators-not-to-politicize-courts/

http://www.sunstar.com.ph/manila/local-news/2018/02/22/palace-taunts-de-lima-happy-1st-anniversary-detention-590243

http://thestandard.com.ph/news/national/259477/de-lima-supporters-hold-protest.html

https://www.rappler.com/nation/195580-de-lima-icc-the-hague-act-urgency-killings

http://opinion.inquirer.net/111281/independent-vulnerable-judiciary

https://www.facebook.com/notes/leila-de-lima/de-lima-among-political-prisoners-featured-at-10th-geneva-summit/2124403167790227/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leila_de_Lima

https://www.amnesty.org/fr/latest/news/2018/02/philippines-detained-duterte-critic-must-be-freed-immediately/ (FRANCAIS)

http://www.rfi.fr/asie-pacifique/20180224-philippines-leila-lima-prisonniere-opinion-amnesty-drogue-duterte (FRANCAIS)

https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leila_de_Lima (FRANCAIS)

#FreeLeilaNow #StandUp4HumanRights #WorldIsWatching#StopPoliticalPersecution

The Philippines: Lawyer who filed case vs Duterte in ICC fears for life

February 12, 2018

The lawyer who brought charges against President Rodrigo Duterte in the International Criminal Court (ICC) admitted on Sunday that he felt “tremendous pressure” from the implications—and consequences—of what he may have set in motion.

“I always assume my life is in danger, especially now that my enemy is not only the President,” said Jude Josue Sabio, who lodged the complaint accusing Mr. Duterte of  mass murder of suspects and criminals in his brutal war on drugs.

“He (Mr. Duterte) has tentacles everywhere and they are killers,” the University of the Philippines law graduate said in an interview with the Inquirer.

Fight for justice

Addressing critics who question his motives, the 51-year-old Sabio said: “My purpose is not to destroy him (the President), embarrass him, or shame him. My purpose is to fight for justice.”

Besides his personal safety, Sabio said he feared for the lives of his clients, confessed Davao Death Squad (DDS) hit men Edgar Matobato and Arturo Lascañas, both of whom had turned whistleblowers and were now fugitives.

Both men are facing outstanding warrants of arrest and have been in hiding for several months after appearing in a Senate inquiry and detailing the alleged activities of the DDS in Mr. Duterte’s hometown.

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http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/967986/lawyer-who-filed-case-vs-duterte-in-icc-fears-for-life

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/feb/08/icc-claims-crimes-against-humanity-duterte-philippines

https://beta.philstar.com/headlines/2018/02/08/1785825/matobato-lawyer-welcomes-icc-preliminary-examination-drug-war

http://time.com/5141039/icc-hague-venezuela-philippines/

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/rodrigo-duterte-philippines-war-drugs-international-criminal-court-investigation-a8201781.html

http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/news/nation/643084/report-threats-to-police-palace-tells-lawyer-who-brought-case-vs-duterte-to-icc/story/

http://www.sunstar.com.ph/manila/local-news/2018/02/12/palace-sabio-no-reason-feel-unsafe-588561

http://www.canadianinquirer.net/2018/02/12/palace-no-ill-will-vs-lawyer-in-icc-case-vs-duterte/

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/968263/sabio-told-go-to-pnp-if-you-feel-at-risk

http://www.canadianinquirer.net/2018/02/13/war-on-drugs-continues-says-duterte/

http://www.manilatimes.net/icc-project-shows-trillanes-yellows-depth-depravity-utter-lack-patriotism/380025/

http://www.manilatimes.net/early-panic-icc-process/380027/

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/968472/calida-icc-has-no-mandate-to-probe-duterte

https://www.rappler.com/technology/social-media/196037-duterte-supporters-swarm-icc-facebook-page

https://www.icc-cpi.int/philippines

https://www.icc-cpi.int/

http://www.xeu.com.mx/nota.cfm?id=950053 (ESPANOL)

https://news.zing.vn/duterte-nhan-gui-toa-hinh-su-quoc-te-ban-toi-di-dung-bo-tu-post818700.html (VIETNAMESE)

https://news.zing.vn/trump-soc-khi-hay-tin-tro-ly-bao-hanh-vo-cu-post819119.html (VIETNAMESE)

http://sp.beritasatu.com/internasional/pengadilan-pidana-internasional-akan-selidiki-duterte/122732 (INDONESIAN)