3rd Mindanao Assembly of Peoples’ Lawyers

The Philtown Hotel, Cagayan de Oro City
27 November 2009

delivered by

LEILA M. DE LIMA
Chairperson

PROMOTING AND DEFENDING HUMAN RIGHTS AND FUNDAMENTAL FREEDOMS: CHALLENGES TO PUBLIC INTEREST LAWYERING

Good morning to all of you.

A dark shadow had been cast over the Filipino people, and the day of November 23, 2009 will be a day that will be remembered for its opprobrium, its infamy and its crushing blow to civility and humanity. We find ourselves barely days from awakening to the news of the most profound expression of brazen inhumanity in our recent history.

To explore the challenges to public interest lawyering now takes on a renewed urgency. We now face a renewed affirmation of the dreadful forces which erode every notion we may have of freedom and democracy, forces that threaten the staying power of the rule of law and the timelessness of human civility and dignity.

And as we gather here to consolidate our grief, our horror over what had become of our fellow men including among your own, Attys. Connie Brizuela and Cynthia Oquendo, we must now brave our trepidation for the challenges to our blighted state of human rights in our motherland. While our quest for the fullest protection of human rights may be a powerful force, noble and magnanimous, are you, my fellow lawyers, ready to face the brutality of an equally powerful force, that is armed with violence and bestial disregard for life, that seeks to thwart us? Are you ready to stand toe-to-toe with the monstrous face of the antithesis to human rights, so horrifyingly put on display on November 23, 2009 ?

We are not here for show. We are not here to pretend that we are interested in public interest lawyering. We are certainly not here to belch high-founded rhetoric and then retreat to the comfort of our own private lives. There is an air of danger in the air, more palpable than it has ever been in decades. If you are as determined as you imagine yourself to be brave, then join me. Let us talk about human rights, then let us assert with our bare hands the very words that fall from our mouths.

Allow me to thank the Union of Peoples’ Lawyers in Mindanao , Atty. Caloy Zarate (Sec. Gen.) for inviting me to be here today. Today’s event, the 3rd Mindanao Assembly of Peoples’ Lawyers, is a significant occasion, made more significant in light of recent events and it is an honor for me to be allowed to participate in it.

This assembly is important because of the crucial role your Union plays, in Mindanao and in the rest of Philippine society. Our nation would be a much worse off place, if not for organizations such as yours, hardy individuals such as yourselves and the efforts you tirelessly undertake, from day to day.

It is clear that the current human rights situation in the Philippines , is rather dismal. In the letter-invite my office received from your institution, you mentioned issues such as extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, massive internal displacements, and the harassment of human rights defenders.

As you noted in your letter, these problems are indeed prevalent. Their prevalence is fed by a continuing culture of impunity, which allows many wrongdoers to evade the meaningful application of accountability. Many of us here are officers of the court, and these issues are an affront to our belief in the rule of law, and our sense that no individual, no matter how wealthy or powerful or well-connected, should be above the law.

Extrajudicial killings have taken place, and continue to occur. The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) has been investigating many of these alleged murders. In particular, a number of public hearings have taken place, with respect to claims that death squads exist, in several of our major cities.

That said, the murders remain and remain rampant, and past killings fill the docket and continue to be unresolved. Too many family members of the dead are left waiting in vain for the promise of accountability. Too many witnesses remain silent, out of fear for their own lives, or the lives of their loved ones.

A similar situation exists with respect to enforced disappearances. A very lucky few are able to escape or are released, after being abducted. Many other abductees surface only as corpses, or are never heard from again.

The CHR continues to investigate these cases as well. We exercise our visitorial powers, as found in the 1987 Constitution, and regularly conduct inspections of detention facilities, military camps, and the like, in order to seek out the disappeared, or learn more about where abductees may have been kept.

The experience of these visits has been mixed, with cooperation being received from the upper echelons of the military and law enforcement, but with more stiff resistance being put up at the lower levels. We know that our efforts to find the missing have produced no success. We know that when we search, there are forces that mobilize to conceal further the very persons we seek. We know also that we cannot relent because for as long as the unscrupulous violators are aware that we are searching, they must toe the line, be vigilant and on guard, and rethink any impropriety.

The issue of massive internal displacement is something that has affected Mindanao immensely over these many years. The thought of tens or hundreds of thousands of persons, men, women, children, the disabled and the elderly, having to leave their homes and make their way to places of relative safety, is something that many people cannot even begin to wrap their heads around.

The numbers involved can be mind boggling. The amount and degree of suffering visited upon the dislocated, fill one’s heart with dismay. And this is exacerbated by the realization that many of these internally displaced persons have been forced to leave their homes, again and again, as waves of conflict and violence repeatedly batter at their communities, only to recede momentarily, before crashing onto their lives yet again.

It has been noted that these repeated cycles of forced evacuation eventually take their toll, and rapidly undermine the ability of the displaced, to cope and rebuild.

The Commission on Human Rights has undertaken efforts to support the peace process, in order to end the armed conflicts, which have led to so much dislocation, militarization, and violation of human rights. In addition, the CHR has attempted to help the internally displaced return home.

Only recently, the CHR visited hundreds of community members who had taken refuge on the grounds of a church, having fled what was alleged to be the militarization of their barangays, and accusations that they were actually combatants and not civilians. They were eventually able to return home, though we continue to monitor that situation.

Finally, as pointed out in your letter, the harassment of human rights defenders continues. This harassment takes on many forms. Members of civil society have been subjected to lawsuits, filed against them in bad faith, and aimed at draining their financial resources, consuming their time, and sapping their energy.

For far too many individuals, however, the harassment has resulted in violence. It is shameful for our nation to have had so many human rights defenders violently attacked, stabbed, shot at, abducted and murdered.

The Commission on Human Rights has been subjected to harassment as well. This is something that has been brought home to me recently, at the personal level. Specifically, a number of lawsuits were filed against me, alleging a number of accusations. Their timing is suspect, however, coming at the heels of significant revelations and breakthroughs, in one of the investigations of the CHR.

That, unfortunately, is the reality of the lives of human rights defenders in the Philippines . No good deed is left unpunished. And you can expect that any positive development or successful outcome, will be met with an aggressive response from those individuals with vested interests.

At this point, I have taken some time to briefly describe some of the work, that the Commission on Human Rights is carrying out, to help address four of the issues that we currently face. Now, why am I doing this?

Simply put, I believe that the Union of Peoples’ Lawyers in Mindanao is a formidable organization, able to harness a significant amount of legal expertise, and channel it in order to further the public interest. You are a force for good, in your communities, in your cities, and in the wider region.

Let us become partners, and close allies. Let us more actively engage with one another, and seek ways in which we can coordinate our actions and collaborate, in order to further our common interests.

Both our institutions seek to strengthen the rule of law, and undermine the culture of impunity. We hold in common a desire to introduce greater accountability and transparency, into the workings of government, both national and local. And I am certain that all of us here would like to see the day, when human rights are finally meaningfully respected and protected in the Philippines .

In the letter-invite I received from your organization, I was requested to speak on the challenges to public interest lawyering, with respect to promoting and defending human rights and fundamental freedoms. Many ominous challenges exist, of course. For now, I will focus on a few key problem areas.

One of these is more of an opportunity than a problem. I speak of the need to build up expertise, in terms of international human rights and humanitarian law. What do I mean by this?

Of course, the use of national law during public interest lawyering is paramount. Philippine legislation and jurisprudence are the primary tools at a lawyer’s disposal, when arguing a case before our local courts or tribunals.

That said, when it comes to advocacy carried out in both judicial and non-judicial settings, the application of relevant international law cannot be neglected. It must be emphasized that the international treaties, which make up the core of international human rights law, and which our country has ratified, result in binding international legal commitments on the part of our government.

These are more than mere motherhood statements, or pretty words. These human rights treaties contain international legal obligations, which the government is duty-bound to carry out.

So we must hold the government to its word. We must hold our leaders accountable for any omissions. And one way we can do this is by continuously calling their attention to any provisions of international law, which they are failing to fulfill or adhere to.

Take the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, for example. The Philippines is a party to this treaty, and it is a treaty, with as much binding effect as any other international treaty on taxation, or international borders, or intellectual property.

Now, this treaty states that, “Every human being has the inherent right to life,” and that, “[e]very citizen shall have the right … [t]o vote and to be elected at genuine periodic elections.”

It also provides that, “Each State … undertakes to respect and to ensure to all individuals … the rights recognized in the … Covenant,” and that, “[e] ach State … undertakes … [t]o ensure that any person whose rights … are violated shall have an effective remedy.”

These provisions contain rights possessed by individuals, and duties on the part of the government. This treaty offers us an international legal framework, accepted by numerous and diverse countries from all around the world, for calling on the government to prevent abuse, to investigate and punish violations, or to take some other appropriate action.

This international treaty framework exists. More and more, over time, we should use it, and harness its legal and persuasive effects.

Another challenge which is faced, by those who would engage in public interest practice, in the field of human rights, is the resource-heavy resistance, put up by vested interests.

It is no secret that public interest lawyering is not the most lucrative of legal fields. This comes with the territory, because the victims of human rights violations tend to be the marginalized, the vulnerable, and the impoverished.

Neither is it a secret that those who carry out human rights violations are usually the exact opposite. They tend to be the well-connected, the powerful, and the wealthy. It is precisely the impunity provided by these resources, which gives them the confidence to break the law, and to flout common human decency.

Public interest lawyering will mean that you will often butt heads with powerful vested interests. And that is why partnerships, such as the one I adverted to earlier, between the CHR and your institution, will take on greater importance.

As individual organizations acting alone, and going up against a wide array of entrenched interests, our ability to effect significant change will be relatively constrained. By allying with one another, however, and by engaging in sustained coordination and collaboration with other like-minded groups, it becomes that much more possible to bring about real change.

Finally, let me touch on one challenge which was already mentioned in your letter-invite, namely the harassment of human rights defenders.

You and your organization are formidable human rights defenders. As such, you possess the capacity to effectively deliver meaningful change, but at the same time, this will put you squarely in the sights of those who benefit from the status quo.

In fact, the defense of human rights can be a dangerous undertaking. Coupled with the culture of impunity, there may at times be a very real risk of physical injury or worse.

We have recently borne witness to a horrific incident, which makes concrete just how untouchable certain vested interests believe they have become, and the hideous lengths to which they are willing to go, in order to maintain their stranglehold on power.

I am, of course, speaking of the killings which just recently took place in Maguindanao. The images of corpses strewn this way and that serve as mute reminders of the carnage which took place. The number of the dead is appalling. The fact that members of media and women were murdered, when one would have thought that this would provide some measure of protection, is especially troubling. And the brazen manner in which the killings were carried out, by a large number of armed men, with no apparent fear of legal accountability is shocking.

What does it mean when vested interests can simply have their private militias abduct a large number of persons, including media personnel, in such a blatant manner? What does it mean when dozens of these abductees are then simply brutally murdered, with their corpses left for public viewing?

How can such unspeakable barbarism be visited upon this many civilians out in the open? Why do these perpetrators believe they can get away with this mass murder? How could the situation have been allowed to get this out of control?

Are we back in the medieval ages? Are we not supposed to be a civilized nation, with civilized leaders? Is this not already the 21st century? Instead, this smacks of feudalism, and serfdom, and the naked application of might and violence over the rule of law.

I believe that this incident and its aftermath will serve as a litmus test, for law enforcement and the government. Will a meaningful investigation take place, or a mere whitewash? Will there be a good faith attempt to bring the perpetrators, including the masterminds, to justice? Or will the response simply be to drag things along, in the hope that people will eventually forget, and transfer their attention to the latest issue or crisis?

And how will all this develop, in the context of next year’s national elections, the interests of the political powers-that-be, the possibility of fraudulent and manufactured votes, the existence of private armies, the reality of warlords, and the intricate relationship, if not dependence, of national leaders on local officials?

The incident in Maguindanao serves as a reminder of the horrors that those with vested interests, are willing to inflict on those who would oppose them. As public interests lawyers, this is a grave challenge that we all must be wary of, and defend against.

The date, November 23, 2009 , is the starkest reminder of the dysfunctions of our institutions, the audacity of human rights violators and the frailty of our democracy. As some sectors have put it, the Maguindanao Massacre exposes us not only to the weakness of our rule of law, but the possibility that we are probably the most remarkable example of a failed democracy. While I am not ready to concede that we have failed, I am aware that there are seemingly insurmountable obstacles that require our unrelenting effort. Catastrophes such as the one in Maguindanao come and go, ebb and flow. But the ebbing and flowing is dangerously predictable, unsettlingly certain and unnervingly well-entrenched in our way of life. Before we give up on our cherished democracy, we still have some fight left in us to give. I ask for your sincere oath of solidarity with us, with one another and with all peace and freedom loving Filipinos everywhere.

In the end, our partnerships give us greater strength, our collaborations allow us to do more, and our alliances help keep all of us safer. We, at the Commission on Human Rights, look forward to engaging with your institution, in order to further our common goals, and bring about a fundamental shift in the way our society is governed, and functions.

Thank you very much.