In 2018, the Committee on the Rights of Parliamentarians of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), led by Parliamentarians for Global Action (PGA) Members Hon. Aleksandra Jerkov (Committee President, Serbia) and Dip. Delsa Solórzano (Venezuela), documented 563 violations of the human rights of members of parliament (MPs) -- a more than 20 percent increase in two years. Behind each of those figures is the story of an individual who chose public service as a parliamentarian despite immense personal risk and potential for reprisal for advocating on behalf of human rights, democracy, and the rule of law.
Among those stories is that of PGA Member Senator Leila de Lima (The Philippines), one of the most vocal and determined critics of the human rights abuses of the regime of Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte, whose case PGA has repeatedly called attention over more than two-and-a-half years of her detention on politically motivated charges. A female opposition member and former Secretary of Justice, as Chair of the Senate Committee on Justice and Human Rights, Sen. de Lima led an inquiry into alleged mass extrajudicial killings and spate of summary executions attributable to Duterte’s administration under the onus of his “war on drugs.” In apparent retaliation, she was arrested in February 2017 based on accusations that her senatorial campaign was financed by the drug trade – charges that have been debunked and refuted by numerous esteemed international bodies, including the IPU Committee and the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention. Senator de Lima would be ineligible to receive bail and could face a maximum sentence of life imprisonment if convicted. Inter-governmental and non-governmental organizations have expressed numerous concerns about her conditions in detention.
Now, members of the U.S. Senate are the legislators to unequivocally demonstrate that parliamentary colleagues around the world are not only watching Sen. de Lima’s case – they are prepared to act to ensure accountability for violators of her human rights. PGA Member Senator Dick Durbin (D-IL), with Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT), filed an amendment to the 2020 State and Foreign Operations (SFOPs) appropriations bill to deny entry of any Philippine government officials implicated in Sen. de Lima's unlawful detention. The US Senate Appropriations Committee approved the amendment, which states that "the Secretary of State shall apply subsection [prohibition on entry] to foreign government officials about whom the Secretary has credible information have been involved in the wrongful imprisonment of... Senator Leila de Lima.” One observer in the Philippines responded to Senator Durbin’s announcement of the amendment’s passage on social media, affirming “This is not just a fight for a Filipino Senator but a fight for justice and democracy.”
The initiative is part of a bicameral and bipartisan effort to bring global attention to Sen. de Lima’s case. Recently, PGA Member Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA), in his capacity as Chair of the bipartisan Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission (TLHRC), convened a hearing on “Parliamentarians at Risk Around the World,” in partnership with the House Democracy Partnership (HDP), a bipartisan commission chaired by Rep. David Price (D-NC) that also includes PGA member Rep. Gwen Moore (D-WI). The hearing featured Sen. de Lima’s brother, as well as Dip. Solórzano, IPU President Dip. Gabriela Cuevas Barrón (Mexico), and Hon. Hisyar Ozsoy (Turkey). The hearing was part of the TLHRC’sDefending Freedoms Project, which supports political prisoners throughout the world. In his testimony,Sen. de Lima’s brother called upon both houses of the U.S. Congress to adopt the “Free Leila de Lima” resolutions (H.Res. 233andS.Res. 142); enact budgetary provisions restricting travel by responsible Philippines government officials, such as the successful amendment co-sponsored by Senators Durbin and Leahy; and call upon U.S. government agency to enforce the provisions of the Magnitsky Act, inter alia.
Beyond the United States, PGA Members have raised Senator de Lima’s case through parliamentary statements, including a statement by PGA Member Hon. Anita Vandenbeld and initiatives spearheaded by Hon. Ali Ehsassi, PGA National Group Chair and Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for the Prevention of Genocide and Other Crimes against Humanity in the Canadian House of Commons. In the European Parliament, former PGA Board Member Ms. Barbara Lochbiler, MEP (Germany), filed a joint resolution, calling for The Philippines to comply with its human rights obligations under domestic and international law. Today, the mantle in the European Parliament is being upheld by Ms. Lochbiler’s colleague from Germany, PGA Member Dr. Hannah Neumann, MEP (Germany), whose academic research focused on democracy and identity in the Philippines and who is committed advocating for Sen. de Lima and fellow parliamentary prisoners of conscience.
PGA is also proud to partner with the Montreal-based Raoul Wallenberg Human Rights Centre (RWHRC), which provides legal defense for political prisoners including Sen. de Lima. Of her case, RWHRC Chair Professor Irwin Cotler, former Attorney General of Canada, emphasized that “Senator de Lima is entitled to a fair trial. Until that basic human right is respected, she should be immediately released so that she can fulfilled her constitutionally mandated role as an elected Senator.”
These initiatives demonstrate the ways in which PGA provides solidarity for persecuted parliamentarians worldwide. In the words of PGA President Ms. Margareta Cederfelt (MP, Sweden), “PGA is committed to provide a platform for legislators worldwide to stand with parliamentary colleagues targeted by oppressive regimes. We must be vigilant to their suppression and vociferous in our opposition to their subjugation.”
The PGA’s upcoming Annual Forum will focus on strategizing and devising concrete global and local parliamentary initiatives to support the causes of democratic renewal and human rights’ protection in all countries in which democratic principles, practices and institutions are under attack. The 41st PGA Annual Forum will take place in the Parliament of Cape Verde in Praia on 21-22 November 2019, and will provide for an opportunity of global mobilization to advance the realization of civil and political rights.
