| 8 September 2010 |
| THE PERMANENT PEOPLES' TRIBUNAL |
The Permanent Peoples' Tribunal: Second Session on the Philippines is a major part of
the campaign of the Filipino people to expose, condemn and fight the
crimes of the Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo regime and its principal foreign
accomplice. The United States, particularly the Bush administration, is
the force behind the intensification of exploitationand oppression of the
Filipino people as well as the peoples of the world.
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The Permanent Peoples' Tribunal is 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. The
Tribunal was founded in June 1979 in Italy by law experts, writers and
other intellectuals. It succeeded the Russell Tribunals I and II or the
International War Crimes Tribunal, which held two sessions in 1967 to
expose the war crimes committed against the Vietnamese people.
In 1980, the Permanent Peoples' Tribunal convened a Session on the
Philippines to hear the case against the dictator Ferdinand E. Marcos, at
the suit of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) and
the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF). It was the first international
juridical body to condemn the US sponsored Marcos dictatorship. Marcos
was later deposed through a popular uprising in February 1986.
In recognition of the urgency of the appeal of the Initiating Group of
Philippine organizations, the Permanent Peoples' Tribunal has decided to
convene the Second Session on the Philippines. It shall hear and
deliberate on the indictment against the Arroyo regime, the US government
and multilateral agencies acting as their accomplices, in violating the
Filipino people's individual and collective rights, and for crimes under
international law.
THE COMPLAINTS
Violations of human rights, especially civil and political rights, with
particular focus on summary executions, disappearances, massacres,
torture as well as other vicious, brutal and systematic abuses and
attacks on the basic democratic rights of the people.
Violations of human rights, especially economic, social and cultural
rights of the Filipino people through the imposition of "free market"
globalization to exploit them; transgression of their economic
sovereignty and national patrimony; various forms of economic plunder
and attacks on their economic rights; and the destruction of the
environment.
Violations of the rights of the people to national self-determination
and liberation through the imposition of the US war of terror; US
military intervention; as well as the perpetration of crimes against
humanity and war crimes; misrepresentations of the people's right to
national liberation and self-determination as terrorism and the
baseless "terrorist" listing of individuals, organizations and other
entities by the US and other governments.
GROUP OF INITIATORS: HUSTISYA! (Victims of the US-Arroyo Regime United
for Justice), SELDA (organization of political prisoners), Desaparacidos
(organization of victims, relatives and friends of the disappeared),
Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (BAYAN, New Patriotic Alliance), KARAPATAN
(Alliance for the Advancement of People's Rights), Public Interest Law
Center, Peace for Life, Philippine Peace Center, IBON Foundation, United
Church of Christ in the Philippines and the Ecumenical Bishops Forum.
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