ILPS-ICC Resolution Expressing Support to Detained Senator Leila de Lima

The International Coordinating Committee of the ILPS today adopted a resolution expressing support to detained Philippine Senator Leila de Lima and called for her immediate release. The resolution also acknowledged her high merits for her nomination to the Nobel Peace Prize by highly respected human rights organizations.

ILPS-ICC Resolution Expressing Support to Detained Senator Leila de Lima

ILPS-ICC Resolution Expressing Support to Detained Senator Leila de Lima

Senator Leila de Lima is a Filipino lawyer, human rights activist, law professor, former Justice Secretary, chaired the Commission on Human Rights, and currently serving as a Senator of the 18th Congress of the Philippines

In February 2017, days after garnering international awards for her campaign against extrajudicial killings in the Philippines, she was arrested and filed with trumped-up charges linked to the drug trade.

Senator de Lima is a victim of political persecution and illegal detention for her opposition to the extra-judicial killings (EJK) in the Philippines under President Rodrigo Duterte’s regime. She has been unjustly  imprisoned on the basis of fabricated testimonies.

The prestigious Prize for Freedom was awarded to her for her stand against a regime accused of being dictatorial. She was designated as a ‘prisoner of conscience’ by numerous international human rights organizations. Amnesty International conferred her the first ever “Most Distinguished Human Rights Defender” award and is now nominated to the Nobel Peace Prize Award.

Given the aforementioned, the ILPS-ICC resolves:

1. To uphold and defend the civil and political rights of Senator Leila de Lima;
2. To protest her political persecution and illegal detention;
3. To demand her freedom and immediate release from prison and
4. To acknowledge her high merits for her nomination to the Nobel Peace Prize Award by highly respected international human rights organizations.