Arroyo Regime’s Abuses Qualify as ‘Crimes Against Humanity’: Hague Tribunal

2. The procedures of the Session

According to the procedures foreseen in its Statutes, the original request (presented in early 2006 by a broad coalition of social and religious organizations, based in the Philippines as well as in Europe and Canada) to hold a Session of the PPT on gross violations of the fundamental rights of the Filipino people was examined by the Secretariat and the Presidency of the PPT with respect specifically to the competence of the PPT on the contents of the accusation, and to the representativeness of the plaintiffs.

The Session, to be considered as a strict articulation and follow-up of the one held in 1980, was announced in a press Conference in The Hague, on October 30, 2006.

The two main accused parties – the Government of the Philippines, and its President Mrs Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo; the US Government and its President Mr George Walker Bush, – were notified of the procedure through their Embassies – in Rome and in The Hague- and invited to participate in the process, and to exercise their right to defense.

As documented also in reports of the media in the Philippines as well as in The Hague, qualified representatives of the Administration have expressed confirmation, through their contradictory statements, that the Government had been duly informed in a timely manner, without however deciding in favor of an active participation in the processes of the Tribunal (beyond a silent presence in its opening session, on March 21).

The public hearings of the PPT have been held in the Christus Triumfator Kerk in the Hague, over three full days (21-23 March), according to the program reported in Annex 1.

Annex 2 lists the documents made available to the Jurors (and filed in the PPT archives) to support and to interpret the oral presentations and interpellation with the Jury (including extensive live presentations and interpellation with witnesses and their lawyers in the Philippines over electronic live video communication).

The deliberation of the Jury has been formulated in its closed-door sessions from the evening of March 23 until the presentation of its verdict on March 25, 2007.