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Miriam seeks third-party inquiry on Sabah crisis


To prevent further bloodshed, Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago on Friday suggested the conduct of a third-party inquiry on the Sabah violence that stemmed from Sulu Sultan Jamalul Kiram III's land claim on Sabah in northern Borneo. Santiago, in her keynote speech at the Manila Hotel, said the Philippines and Malaysia should agree to appoint a third-party to conduct under international law “inquiry and fact-finding” on the recent spate of violence between armed Kiram followers, who landed in Sabah early in February, and Malaysian security forces. If necessary, she said she will file a resolution “Expressing the sense of the Senate that the Philippine President should invite Malaysia to agree on a third-party who shall conduct an inquiry and fact-finding on the alleged violent acts during the recent Sabah event." She said, under the 1907 Hague Convention for the Pacific Settlement of Disputes, the method of inquiry and fact-finding can be used “to facilitate a solution of disputes by elucidating the facts by means of an impartial and conscientious investigation.” She also cited a 1991 United Nations resolution defining fact-finding as: “any activity designed to obtain detailed knowledge of the relevant facts to any dispute or situation which competent UN organizations need in order to exercise effectively their functions in relation to the maintenance of international peace and order.” “Under international law, impartial fact-finding facilitates peaceful settlement of disputes, particularly settlement by negotiation, mediation, good offices, or conciliation,” she said. Santiago said the UN and other international groups used this method in the 1981 involvement of mercenaries in an invasion of the Seychelles; the 1987 use of chemical weapons in the Gulf War between Iran and Iraq; and the 1988 destruction of Korean Air Lines Boeing 447. The senator, however, said there is an "unwritten exception" which allows states to protect or rescue their nationals by means of armed forces. "However, this exception should not be invoked, unless the Philippines has to carry out rescue operations,” she said. Sulu Sultan Kiram's followers, led by his brother Raja Muda Agbimuddin Kiram, are in Sabah to supposedly reclaim the land for the sultanate. They are being hunted down by Malaysian security forces after the March 1 armed clashes that left dozens dead, including Malaysian forces.   The sultan had offered a unilateral ceasefire, but Malaysia has rejected it and instead insisted on the unconditional surrender of Kiram's followers. Santiago, for her part, agreed that the deal between the Sulu Sultanate and British colonialists in 1878 was just to lease Sabah. “Since no transfer of sovereignty was involved in the 1878 Deed, no transfer of sovereignty has ever passed to Malaysia,” she said. She added that the Philippines has never abandoned its claim over Sabah. — LBG, GMA News

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