Gabriela urges prosecution of Duterte for crimes vs. humanity

Women’s group Gabriela on Monday called for the prosecution of former President Rodrigo Duterte for alleged crimes against humanity amid a Philippine delegation’s visit to Geneva, Switzerland.

According to Gabriela, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. is responsible for ensuring that victims under the Duterte administration will get justice.

“As the newly-elected President of the country, Marcos Jr. has the responsibility of ensuring that victims of the Duterte administration attain justice,” Gabriela said in a statement.

“He should also lay down a comprehensive program for the promotion of human rights values and standards, taking into account the specific needs of women human rights defenders," it added.

GMA News Online has asked Senator Christopher “Bong” Go, Duterte’s long-time aide, for comment but has yet to receive a response as of posting time.

It also asked the Palace for comment but it has not provided any statement yet on the matter.

Gabriela also called for the protection of women activists and human rights defenders, saying they have been subject to sexual innuendoes, contemptuous and anti-women remarks, and outright extrajudicial killings.

"Red-tagging, illegal arrests, and extrajudicial killings have continued under the present administration," it said.

It cited the case of missing activist Elizabeth "Loi" Magbanua, who was recently issued a writ of amparo by the Supreme Court.

"Sexual violence against women committed by men in uniform continues under the present administration, which has no clear pronouncements about women's rights and the protection of women human rights defenders," it said.

CHR program

In a separate statement, the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) said the program for promotion of human rights values and standards, not only with respect to women human rights defenders, are being made as a permanent program of the body.

"We will also implement a program for the promotion of human rights, by way of education and training, directly to the people targeting the specific human rights concern of the people in a particular community. So we would be having a direct interaction with the people in the community, not only with civil society organizations," the CHR said.

"This is aside from reviving or reactivating the Barangay Human Rights Center (BHRC), which was a joint program of CHR and DILG, and also implementing Human Rights Center in Cities," it added.

The CHR said it has conducted investigations on the cases filed by human rights victims and it also provided legal assistance to them and their families.

"CHR is also consistently providing promotional works by way of education and training. With regard, however, to ICC investigation, the CHR took no part therein and it was never consulted at any stage of the investigation," it said.

The government previously asked the International Criminal Court (ICC) to not resume its investigation into the drug war, insisting that the ICC has no jurisdiction over it.

For his part, ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan responded that none of the government’s arguments have merit.

This comes as Justice Secretary Remulla, leading the Philippine delegation, held a dialogue with Morris Ridball-Binz, the UN Special Rapporteur on extra-judicial killings, on the next steps to train authorities on the Minnesota Protocol in the context of the Department of Justice’s reforms.

The Minnesota Protocol provides a comprehensive and shared platform for forensic investigators, pathologists, law enforcement officials, lawyers, prosecutors, presiding officers, and NGOs to make accountability a worldwide reality.

Remulla and other officials are set to attend the Universal Periodic Review (UPR), a peer-review mechanism of the United Nations Human Rights Council.

Some 6,000 drug suspects have been killed in the drug war as of December 2021, according to the data of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency. However, several human rights groups are saying the figures are higher. —KG, GMA Integrated News