European Parliament calls for De Lima's release and probe on war on drugs

Some members of the European Parliament are calling for the release of Sen. Leila de Lima and an independent international investigation into President Rodrigo Duterte's campaign against illegal drugs.

In a joint resolution posted on the European Parliament website, parliamentarians raised a number of issues related to De Lima's case, including:

• adequate security for De Lima while in detention and a fair trial "recalling the right to the presumption of innocence, 
• dropping of all politically motivated charges against her, and 
• an end any further acts of harassment against her."

The motion has been submitted for discussions by the parliament and is awaiting "first reading-single reading-budget first stage."

Political groups in the European Parliament had filed at least seven motions that were consolidated into a single resolution dated March 15, 2017.

Parliamentarians noted that the Philippines and the European Union have longstanding diplomatic, economic, cultural and political relations.

With this, the parliamentarians resolved to call on the European Union to "support the establishment at the UN Human Rights Council of an independent international investigation into unlawful killings and other violations by the Philippines in the context of President Duterte’s ‘war on drugs.'"

"Whereas there are serious concerns that the offences Senator De Lima has been charged with are almost entirely fabricated; whereas Amnesty International regards Senator De Lima as a prisoner of conscience," par of the resolution reads. 

On the crackdown on illegal drugs, parliamentarians called on the Philippine government to prioritize curtailing the operations of drug trafficking networks and drug barons over small-scale consumers.

They said the campaign should also include "measures for prevention and detoxification" as they encourage the government to open new rehabilitation centers.

Also, they underscored close monitoring of Senator De Lima's case, and efforts to assist the government in "upholding its international human rights obligations, notably through the Framework Agreement."

Moreover, they said that the approval of the Death Penalty Bill by the Lower House is a cause for alarm, prompting them to call on local legislators to "immediately halt ongoing proceedings to reinstate the death penalty."

The European Union considers capital punishment as "cruel and inhuman punishment, which fails to act as a deterrent to criminal behavior."

It also called on the government to "refrain from lowering the minimum age for criminal responsibility." 

Senator De Lima is being detained for charges related to her alleged links to the illegal drugs trade in the New Bilibid Prison when she was still Justice secretary.

She is staunch critic of Duterte's "bloody" war on drugs. —LBG/KG, GMA News