Tribunal denounces rights abuses

An International Solidarity Mission visited the Philippines in August to defend a people under siege from the regime of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and her government’s imperialist backers in Washington.

On the last day of the ISM visit, an International People’s Tribunal was held. This event was endorsed by former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark; Noam Chomsky, linguistic scientist at MIT; and Jitendra Sharma, former justice of the Supreme Court of India.

The presiding judge was Lennox Hinds, professor of Law at Rutgers University and vice-chair of the International Association of Democratic Lawyers. The second and third judges were Irene Fernandez (Malay sia), founder and director of Tenagar (Women’s Force); and Haliaan Karakus (Turkey), president of the International Association of People’s Lawyers (IAPL).

The jury had representatives from Belgium, New Zealand, Canada, Turkey, Australia, Philippines, United States, Britain and the Netherlands.

The prosecutors were all well-known human-rights defenders.

The attorneys questioned the witnesses, asking questions in Tagalog and English. Two of the witnesses were children who had seen their families murdered. Another witness told about the attack and murder of strikers at a picket line.

An attorney recounted the case of two young children from Mindanao who are in hiding because they were threatened with death if they told what happened. Pictures that were part of the testimony showed how one of these children was injured.

Witnesses spoke of torture in Sammor, the massacre in February in Sulu, kidnappings and executions in Mindoro, and the Hacienda Luisita massacre.

As the tribunal closed, thousands of people marched with banners and flags. Representatives from the ISM spoke and chanted at the rally, which ended with a candle lighting on the ground that read, “Oust Gloria.”

It was clear to all that the struggle against human-rights abuses in the Philippines will continue. The international delegation left with the task of bringing the tribunal’s message to solidarity movements around the world.

This is the last of three articles by Eolis on the experiences of the Inter na tional Solidarity Mission. The first two, on the Philippine economy and on the oppression of the Moro people, respectively, appeared in the issues of WW dated Sept. 15 and Oct. 6.