đź“·Former Bayan Muna Rep. Neri Colmenares
Former Bayan Muna Congressman and human rights lawyer Neri Colmenares criticized the Philippine government’s belated willingness to cooperate with the International Criminal Court (ICC), calling it an admission of the state’s failure to prosecute extrajudicial killing cases over the past nine years.
“The Philippine government had nine years to gather evidence but failed because it was never interested in prosecuting the perpetrators. It is humiliating for the government to ask for help now, after repeatedly declaring they would not cooperate with the ICC,” Colmenares said.
“Nasa kamay ng gobyerno ang lahat ng mga ulat at dokumento. Dapat noon pa ay nakapag-file na sila ng kaso. Pero wala silang ginawa. Hanggang ngayon, patuloy pa rin ang mga pagpatay,” he added.
The veteran human rights lawyer emphasized that the government needs to do more to gain credibility and trust from the victims’ families, especially since extrajudicial killings continue to this day.
“This sudden turnaround clearly indicates that our justice system is not hospitable to prosecuting human rights violators and is incapable of stemming impunity and providing justice to victims of extrajudicial killings,” Colmenares stated.
“Kung talagang seryoso ang gobyerno sa pagbibigay ng hustisya, bakit ngayon lang? Saan ang mga kaso? Saan ang mga conviction? Hindi sapat ang mga salita lamang,” he concluded.#
