MANILA – The United States Senate panel has approved a resolution urging the Philippine government to drop charges against Sen. Leila de Lima and order her immediate release.
The US Senate foreign relations committee has approved US Senate Resolution 142, which also condemned the arrest and detention of human rights defenders and political leaders and harassment, arrest, unjust judicial proceedings against media and journalists, particularly Rappler and Maria Ressa.
It further denounced the Philippine government for its alleged role in state-sanctioned extrajudicial killings by police and other armed individuals as part of its anti-drug campaign.
“Sen. De Lima is a prisoner of conscience as she is detained solely on account of her political views and the legitimate exercise of her freedom of expression,” the resolution wrote.
The US senators also called on US President Donald Trump to impose sanctions pursuant to Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act such as revocation of US visas and freezing of assets against Philippine officials and security forces allegedly responsible for extrajudicial killings and orchestrating the arrest and prolonged detention of De Lima.
It further urged Trump to ensure that US security assistance provided to the Philippine National Police is fully consistent with the human rights conditions mandated in the Arms Export Control Act and Foreign Assistance Act of 1961.
The Philippine government should also recognize the importance of human rights defenders and their work and allow them to operate freely without fear of reprisal and guarantee the right to the freedom of the press, and to drop all the charges against Ressa and Rappler.
De Lima, in a press statement from her detention cell, welcomed this move.
“I’ve always believed that standing strong for one’s convictions and fighting always for what is true and just, for human rights and humanity have many friends around the globe,” De Lima said./PN