Release of Senator Leila de Lima urged on the one-year anniversary of her detention

TheObservatory condemns Philippine Senator Leila de Lima’s arbitrary andpolitically motivated detention, and calls for her immediate release and forall charges against her to be dropped. Tomorrow will mark one year sinceSenator de Lima, a critic of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, was detainedon unsubstantiated drug charges.

“Senator de Lima’s arbitrary detention isaimed at silencing her and intimidating other lawmakers and government criticsfrom speaking out against the brutal killings that have been carried out aspart of President Duterte’s ‘war on drugs.’ She should be immediately releasedand all charges against her dropped,” said FIDH Secretary-General DebbieStothard.

On February 24, 2017, Ms. Leila deLima handed herself in to police, a week after the Department of Justice filedthree charges against her under the Comprehensive Dangerous Drugs Act, and aday after a Manila court issued a warrant for her arrest. The charges wererelated to de Lima’s alleged involvement in a drug trafficking ring inside theNew Bilibid Prison in Metro Manila’s Muntinlupa City, while she was Departmentof Justice Secretary. If convicted, de Lima could face between 12 years andlife in prison.

De Lima has been a staunch critic ofPresident Duterte’s approach to combatting crimes and drug trafficking. In2009, as Chair of the Philippine Commission on Human Rights (CHR), sheinitiated a probe into Duterte’s involvement in the ‘Davao Death Squad’ duringhis time as mayor of Davao City. In August 2016, as Chair of the SenateCommittee on Justice and Human Rights, de Lima convened hearings on the hundredsof killings that had been carried out as part of President Duterte’s ‘war ondrugs.’ On September 19, 2016, a group of Senators voted to replace de Lima asChair of the Committee, effectively shutting down the hearings.

President Duterte has repeatedly targetedde Lima. Prior to her imprisonment, he had pledged to “destroy her in public.”He also made personal attacks against her, accusing de Lima of “immorality” forallegedly having had an affair with her driver.

“The attacks on Senator de Lima’s reputationand the fabricated charges brought against her are a direct retaliation forcriticizing President Duterte’s full frontal attack on human rights. De Lima’sprosecution reflects the increasingly difficult environment that human rightsdefenders face in the Philippines under President Duterte,” said OMCT Secretary GeneralGerald Staberock.

De Lima hasbeen in pre-trial detention at the Philippine National PoliceCustodial Center at Manila’s Camp Crame since her arrest. Bail is not permittedunder the charges and de Lima’s arraignment in all three cases has been delayedas the Department of Justice is still amending its information. This iscontrary to Article 9(3) of the International Covenant on Civil and PoliticalRights (ICCPR), to which the Philippines is a State party. Article 9(3) of theICCPR stipulates that anyone arrested or detained on a criminal charge isentitled to trial “within a reasonable time or to release,” and that thedetention of persons awaiting trial should not be “the general rule.”

The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (theObservatory) was created in 1997 by FIDH and the World Organisation AgainstTorture (OMCT). The objective of this programme is to intervene to prevent orremedy situations of repression against human rights defenders. FIDH and OMCTare both members of ProtectDefenders.eu, the European Union Human RightsDefenders Mechanism implemented by international civil society.

Press contacts:

· FIDH:Samuel Hanryon: +33 6 72 28 42 94 / Audrey Couprie: +33 6 48 05 91 57

· OMCT:Delphine Reculeau: +41 22 809 49 39