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Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed

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Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed INTER-PARLIAMENTARY UNION CHEMIN DU POMMIER 5 1218 LE GRAND-SACONNEX / GENEVA (SWITZERLAND) TELEPHONE + 41 22 - 919 41 50 - FAX + 41 22 - 919 41 60 - E-MAIL [email protected] CONFIDENTIAL COMMITTEE ON THE HUMAN RIGHTS OF PARLIAMENTARIANS REPORT OF THE DELEGATION ON ITS MISSION TO THE PHILIPPINES 18 - 21 April 2007 > PHILIPPINES CASE No. PHI/01 - CRISPIN BELTRAN CASE No. PHI/02 - SATURNINO OCAMPO CASE No. PHI/03 - JOEL VIRADOR CASE No. PHI/04 - TEODORO CASIÑO CASE No. PHI/05 - LIZA MAZA CASE No. PHI/06 - RAFAEL MARIANO CONTENTS Page A. Background to and conduct of the mission ...................................... 2 B. Political background ....................................................................... 3 C. Case summary and concerns expressed by the Governing Council ..... 3 D. Information gathered .................................................................... 5 E. Concluding remarks ....................................................................... 15 F. Developments following the mission ................................................ 17 * * * Annex 1 Resolution adopted unanimously by the IPU Governing Council at its 180th session (Nusa Dua, Bali, 4 May 2007) Annex 2 Letter dated 17 April 2007 addressed to Mr. Pier Ferdinando Casini, President of the IPU, by Mr. Jose de Venecia, Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Philippines Annex 3 Preliminary statement of the delegation of the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians on its on-site mission to the Philippines (3 May 2007) - 2 - A. BACKGROUND TO AND CONDUCT OF THE MISSION 1. Having received communications regarding the situation of Representatives Crispin Beltran, Satur Ocampo, Liza Maza, Teodoro Casiño, Joel Virador and Rafael Mariano, the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians declared their cases admissible at its 113th session (May 2006). It decided to submit the case of Mr. Beltran - who had been arrested - to the Governing Council, while examining the case of the remaining five parliamentarians under its confidential procedure. In October 2006, it merged Mr. Beltran’s case with that of the other five parliamentarians and submitted it as a single case to the Governing Council. In the resolution it adopted at its 179th session (October 2006), the Governing Council expressed concern at the charges and the judicial proceedings of the parliamentarians concerned and called for the immediate release of Mr. Beltran. By the time the Committee held its 116th session (January 2007), the situation remained unchanged, in particular Mr. Beltran remained in detention. Considering that it would hold its next session during the 116th Assembly of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, in Nusa Dua, Bali (Indonesia) and that, moreover, it had not received any substantive reply from the competent Philippine authorities to its questions regarding this case, the Committee felt that it would be appropriate to carry out an on-site mission to gather as detailed information as possible on this case from the competent authorities, the parliamentarians concerned and any other competent parties. The Committee's President, Senator Franklin Drilon, being inhibited by its procedural rules from dealing with this case, the Committee requested its Vice- President, Senator Sharon Carstairs, and the Secretary General, to carry out the mission. Initially planned to be conducted after the Committee’s 117th session, at the suggestion of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the mission was carried out from 18 to 21 April 2007. 2. The delegation wishes to express first of all its deep gratitude to the House of Representatives and the Senate for the excellent organization of the mission which both Houses arranged at such short notice and at a particularly busy time leading up to the elections of 14 May 2007 when the electoral campaign was already in full swing. Time constraints therefore prevented the Speaker of the House of Representatives and others to hold separate meetings with it. It is therefore all the more grateful to the Speaker for having hosted a dinner at which it was able to meet with members of the House and government officials. It is clear, however, that that social event was not conducive to raising and discussing certain issues regarding the case in question. The delegation, moreover, expresses its sincere thanks to the authorities with whom it met for their hospitality – some of the meetings were indeed working lunches - and their spirit of cooperation. It wishes to point out in particular that it was able to freely meet with Mr. Beltran in his hospital room at the Philippine Heart Center. In conclusion, the delegation was able to fully carry out its mandate. Programme The delegation met with the following persons: 1. Parliamentary authorities - Mr. Jose de Venecia, Speaker of the House of Representatives and members of the House at the dinner hosted by the Speaker, among them - Representative Bienvenido Abante, Chairman of the Human Rights Committee of the House of Representatives and Representative Edcel Lagman 2. Government and law enforcement officials - Mr. Raul Gonzales, Secretary of the Department of Justice - General Hermogenes E. Ebdane, Secretary of the Department of National Defence - Mr. Ricardo Blancaflor, Undersecretary of the Department of National Defence - General Avelino I. Razon, National Police Chief for Administration and Police Deputy Director - Mr. Geary Barias, Director for Investigation and Detective Management - Mr. Norberto B. Gonzalez, National Security Adviser - Mr. Eduardo Ermita, Executive Secretary at the dinner hosted by Speaker Jose de Venecia 3. Prosecutorial authorities - Mr. Jovencito R. Zuno, Chief State Prosecutor - Mr. Richard Anthony D. Fadullon, Assistant Chief State Prosecutor - 3 - 4. Administrative authorities - Mr. Christopher O. Lock, Chief Administrator of the Supreme Court 5. Commission of Elections (COMELEC) - Mr. René Sarmiento, Member of COMELEC 6. National Human Rights Commission - Dr. Purificación C. Valera Quisumbing, President of the National Human Rights Commission 7. Parliamentarians concerned and their lawyers - Representatives Crispin Beltran, Saturnino Ocampo, Teodoro Casiño, Rafael Mariano and Liza Maza - Mr. Beltran's wife - Attorneys Neri Javier Colmenares and Romeo T. Capulong 8. Human rights organizations - Mr. Renato Mabunga, Secretary General, Philippine Alliance of Human Rights Advocates B. POLITICAL BACKGROUND The case has to be placed in the following political context: In January 2006, President Arroyo issued Executive Order 493, establishing the Inter-Agency Legal Action Group (IALAG) to prepare cases of rebellion and sedition against suspected enemies of the State1. In the early morning of 24 February 2006, the military announced that it had foiled a plot to unseat President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. Before noon of the same day, President Arroyo issued Presidential Proclamation 1017 placing the country under a state of national emergency and issued General Order No. 5 entitled “Directing the Armed Forces of the Philippines in the face of national emergency, to maintain public peace, order and safety and to prevent and suppress lawless violence”. As a consequence, all rally permits issued to various groups by the Mayor of Manila to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the end of the Marcos regime were revoked, and the rallies of several groups were indeed dispersed. On 3 March 2006, the widely criticized state of emergency was lifted and Order No. 5 was subsequently declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court. C. CASE SUMMARY AND CONCERNS EXPRESSED BY THE GOVERNING COUNCIL 1. Case summary 1.1. The parliamentarians concerned were elected in 2004 in accordance with the party-list system designed to ensure the representation of marginalized groups of society (Republic Act 7941, also known as Party-List System Act). Representatives Ocampo and Beltran are serving their second parliamentary mandate, their parties, Bayan Muna and Anakpawis, respectively, having participated also in the 2001 legislative elections. Rafael Mariano belongs to Anakpawis, Teodoro Casiño and Joel Virador are members of Bayan Muna and Liza Maza of Gabriela Women’s Party. The six Representatives are commonly referred to as the “Batasan 6”. 1.2. On 25 February 2006, one day after the announcement of the state of national emergency, Mr. Beltran was arrested without an arrest warrant and taken to the Philippine National Police Headquarters at Camp Crane. It is only there that he was shown an arrest warrant on an inciting-to-sedition charge filed against him by the Marcos regime in 1985. Although his lawyers told the police that the warrant had long been quashed, the police refused to release him. Later that day, an accusation was filed against him for allegedly inciting-to-sedition at a rally held on 24 February 2006 in commemoration of the ousting of the Marcos regime. Although counter-affidavits were issued stating that Mr. Beltran had never given any such speech and that, moreover, he was covered by parliamentary immunity, an indictment was filed with the courts on 27 February. On 27 February 2006, two charges of rebellion were brought against him, one of 1 According to Executive Order 493, IALAG's mandate is "to provide effective and efficient handling and coordination of the investigative and prosecutorial aspects of the fight against threats to national security". Its main task is to coordinate all national security cases, which, according to the Order, are rebellion, sedition and related
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