MALOLOS CITY—At least seven international lawyers associations including a United Nations consultative lawyers group has joined the call for the immediate arrest of fugitive retired Major General Jovito Palparan.
Lawyer Edre Olalia, the secretary general of the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL) said London-based Haldane Society of Socialist Lawyers (HSSL) joined the call along with the US-based National Lawyers Guild (NLG), Netherlands-based International Association of Peoples’ Lawyers and the Belgian Progress Lawyers Network.
All the mentioned international lawyers association issued separate statements pressing the government for the immediate arrest of Palparan and to end the culture of impunity in the country.
Three other organizations, the Japanese Lawyers for International Solidarity and Action (Jalisa), the Lawyers Rights Watch of Canada, and the International Association of Democratic Lawyers (IADL) have pledged to issue similar statements.
New York-based IADL, Olalia said, is a lawyers’ group with official consultative status with the United Nations, and has members in 90 countries.
He said the entry of the international lawyers association into the issue of impunity and extrajudicial killings in the country was meant to hasten action from the government.
He said that when the international community voices out its concern on certain issues in a country, a government usually moves to avoid unsavory comments in the international community.
Olalia cited the statement issued by Liz Davies of the London based HSLL saying “the victims and families have been waiting for justice for the longest time.
There are prevalent doubts from the victims and their families whether the Pnoy administration itself has in fact made any serious, systematic and concrete effort to initiate the effective and genuine investigation and prosecution of human rights violators of the past and the present.
We hope several other victims will, on their own, persist to throw the book at Gen. Palparan and his kind for the most horrific rights violations.”
The same was echoed by the US-Based NLG which cited rampant extrajudicial killings in the country saying “unfortunately, it seems that your administration has utterly failed to improve human rights situation in the country, except for the singular instance where it was compelled to belatedly release the Morong 43 health workers.
Extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, and torture continue, while the perpetrators continue to escape any punishment.”
For its part, the IAPL said in a statement it “sees no major change in politics: human rights violations continue to this day. The perpetrators have practically not been effectively investigated, charged and tried, let alone punished.”
The IAPL further said, “former President Arroyo was recently arrested for cases filed against her for electoral sabotage, plunder and graft and corruption. But the present government has not shown any concrete and firm step to make her former administration liable for human rights violations.”
Like the above lawyers group, the Belgian Progress Lawyers Network demanded immediate arrest of Palparan and his trial.
