Other countries can impose sanctions on human rights violators in the Philippines —Gascon

Other states are within their rights to impose sanctions on human rights violators in the Philippines, the Commission of Human Rights (CHR) said on Thursday.

The 2020 US federal budget includes provisions banning the entry in to the US of Philippine government officials involved in the detainment of Senator Leila De Lima, in connection with the Global Magnistky Act.

"Any state can punish or prosecute against violators of the most grievous human rights anywhere in the world. And this is not new," CHR Commissioner Chito Gascon said in an interview with political analyst Richard Heydarian on Thursday.

The Global Magnitsky Act is an expansion of the Magnitsky Act, a US law that punishes Russian officials responsible for the death of lawyer Sergei Magnitsky, who was arrested in 2008 after alleging that Russian officials were involved in large-scale tax fraud. He died in prison in 2009 after complaining of mistreatment.

The Global Magnitsky Act allows US officials to sanction foreign government officials accused of human rights violations.

The ban has caused an uproar in the Philippine Senate, with some officials slamming the US senators involved for alleged interference.

Gascon said that the Global Magnitsky Act should be seen from the perspective of the concept of universal jurisdiction.

"It really depends on what happens here. 'Yung issue of willing and enable, kasi 'yung concept naman is complementary. If a state is willing to hold people to account for their worst crimes here, then other states will step aside, step back," Gascon said.

"But if we show by our own actions or by our words that we are actually enabling and we're not really holding anyone to account, then other states will say, this is a core universal principle. Human rights should not be violated under any circumstances," he added.

He further explained that though there is a principle of non-intervention, the principle only covers "matters within the exclusive jurisdiction of other states."

However, "human rights is not within the exclusive jurisdiction because it is a universal standard."

"The government must say, it's in our constitution, we are part of the international community, we adhere to international human rights and we will do something about it," Gascon said. — Joahna Lei Casilao/BM, GMA News

De Lima has been detained in Camp Crame since 2017 due to her alleged involvement in the proliferation of drugs in the New Bilibid Prison.