President Gloria M. Arroyo and her administration on charges of involvement in extra judicial killings of political opponents, including Christian leaders.
In a statement seen by BosNewsLife, Tutu said he hopes the March 21-25 trial of the Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal (PPT) in The Hague, Netherlands, will shed light on the killings and other human rights abuses.
He said he "wholeheartedly supports" the PPT "in their noble cause and pray that all of us through them will succeed in this pursuit of justice and peace in the Philippines."
Tutu, seen as the moral voice of South Africa, added his "brothers and sisters in the Philippines who are fighting for justice and wellbeing for all are being slaughtered as we speak." He urged President Arroyo to stop what he called "the terror inflicted on those who seek justice in your land. Stop using the so-called war against terrorism to oppress and kill your own people."
ECUMENICAL DELEGATION
Wednesday’s trial began just two days after an ecumenical delegation from the Philippines presented a report to the United Nations Human Rights Council documenting the Philippine government’s alleged involvement in at least 800 extra-judicial executions since 2001.
The report "Let the stones cry out!" also marked the beginning of an international campaign of the Philippines’ main churches to end the human rights violations, said the World Council of Churches (WCC) in a statement to BosNewsLife this week.
Among those killed was outspoken human rights advocate and former Supreme Bishop Alberto
Ramento, who was found stabbed to death at his rectory in the Parish of San Sebastian of Tarlac City, on the morning of October 3. He had been an outspoken critic of the government and a leading advocate for peace and human rights in the country.
‘PEOPLE’S ARMY’
Analysts say the alleged political killings in the Philippines have occurred against a backdrop of a government campaign against a rebellion waged by the New People’s Army, an armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines. Many victims, but not all of them, were members of militant organizations which the military accuses of having links with the underground movement.
Besides Arroyo and her administration, the role of the United States, the World Bank, World Trade Organization and multinational corporations were also to be examined by the PTT as they have close ties to Philippines’ government.
The PTT, which hears a case launched by a variety of groups, was founded in June 1979 in Italy by law experts as an international opinion tribunal, independent from any state authority. It examines and judges complaints regarding violations of human rights and rights of peoples that are submitted by the victims themselves or groups representing them.
TRIBUNAL PRESSURE
Although its verdicts are non-enforceable, the tribunal has helped bring pressure on governments it has tried, trial observers said.
In 1980, the tribunal reportedly heard a case against then president Ferdinand Marcos brought by the National Democratic Front and the Moro National Liberation Front and became the first international juridical body to condemn the Marcos dictatorship.
The jury found the Marcos dictatorship "guilty of grave economic and political crimes against his own people and against the Bangsa Moro people." Marcos was later ousted by a popular uprising in February 1986. (With BosNewsLife’s Stefan J. Bos).
