PAN Asia Pacific (PANAP) is endorsing the International People’s Tribunal (IPT) 2024 as a means for the Filipino people to demand accountability from their government leaders for the reported and documented human rights violations committed against them, specifically in the context of its counterinsurgency operations.
The IPT is a quasi-judicial forum convened by the International Association of Democratic Lawyers (IADL) and the Friends of the Filipino People in Struggle (FFPS) to investigate alleged war crimes of the incumbent Marcos Jr. administration and its predecessor, the Duterte administration. The IPT 2024 will take place on May 17-18. [download the IPT primer here]
We welcome the IPT 2024 as an important step in exposing the human rights atrocities in the Philippines and the fight for justice for thousands of victims of extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, and other forms of systematic repression of civil and political rights.
As advocates of food sovereignty and the people’s right to land, we are particularly concerned about the numerous human rights abuses committed against Filipino farmers and other rural people. In our annual report on Land & Rights Watch, which monitors various forms of human rights violations committed in the context of the rural communities’ assertion of their right to land and resources in different countries, the Philippines has consistently topped the list as the most dangerous in Asia for farmers, farm workers, indigenous people, and land activists.
We recognize that there is an ongoing civil war in the Philippines between armed revolutionary forces and the Philippine armed forces and that this war is deeply rooted in the chronic landlessness and debilitating poverty among millions of Filipino peasants. We are aware that there are numerous reports and complaints that many activists from cause-oriented groups, including leaders and members of farmers’ organizations and land rights advocates, are systematically targeted as part of the government’s counterinsurgency campaign.
The government justifies these attacks on unarmed civilian activists through red-tagging and claiming that the victims are supporters or members of armed revolutionary groups. We reiterate our position that the right of peasants and all peoples to wage resistance against a system that oppresses, exploits, and chains them to utter poverty is a legitimate right. However, targeting individuals who are not a direct armed participant in this war is a gross human rights violation and a war crime. Principles and provisions of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) – or the laws of armed conflict – must be respected and upheld at all times.
We look forward to the IPT 2024 unpacking these reported violations and alleged war crimes against the Filipino people, deliberating on them, and rendering a just verdict. While not legally binding, we look forward to the IPT 2024’s verdict as documenting historical truth and contributing to the growing calls for justice and accountability. ###
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