The Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), “the global organization of national parliaments,” has adopted a new decision calling for the Philippine government to drop the two remaining drug cases against former senator Leila de Lima and release her from detention.

IPU’s decision was made during the 170th Session of the IPU Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians held from Jan. 21 to Feb. 2 in its headquarters in Geneva, Switzerland.

The decision was released as De Lima is set to mark her sixth year in detention since the Department of Justice (DOJ) filed three illegal drug trading cases against her in February 2017, which were later changed to conspiracy to commit illegal drug trading.

In February 2021, one of the three cases was dismissed by a Muntinlupa, leaving two cases pending.

Under Case No. 17-165, in which De Lima is charged of allegedly getting P10 million from the proceeds of supposed drug trade at the New Bilibid Prison (NBP) in Muntinlupa, key witness Rafael Ragos, former officer-in-charge of the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor), signed a new affidavit in April 2022 recanting all his allegations against the former senator.

Ragos said he did not deliver any money to De Lima’s house in Paranaque as he originally alleged. He also appeared in court several times to affirm his recantation.

Under the decision, the IPU Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians said it “renews it call, in light of the foregoing, for Ms. de Lima to be released immediately and for the legal proceedings against her to be dropped; urges the authorities to take the necessary action forthwith.”

Decision

In addition, the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians also said it:

- “Expresses grave concern that six years after she was first charged, Ms. de Lima continues to languish in detention, even after the key witness against her in one of the two remaining cases stated that he had been forced by the former executive authorities to testify against her;

“ - Is ever more convinced that the steps taken against Ms. de Lima came in response to her vocal opposition to the way in which the then President Duterte was waging a war on drugs, including her denunciation of his alleged responsibility for extrajudicial killings; points out in this regard the inexplicable length of the criminal proceedings with no clear end in sight, the repeated violation of the principle of the presumption of innocence, the dubious choice of jurisdiction to present the accusations against her, the timing of the criminal proceedings, the amendment of the charges and the reliance on testimonies of convicted drug traffickers, who were either given favourable treatment in return, subjected to physical intimidation, including death, in prison, or have an axe to grind against Ms. de Lima as a result of her efforts to dismantle their drug trafficking operations when she was Secretary of Justice;

- “Requests that, should charges not be dropped, an IPU trial observer continue to monitor and report on respect for fair-trial standards in the cases before Branches 205 and 256 of the Regional Trial Court in Muntinlupa City, including in order to assess if and how existing concerns about the legality and fairness of the proceedings are properly reviewed;

- “Regrets once more that it was not possible for the Supreme Court to rule on the public campaign of vilification of Ms. de Lima by the highest state authorities, thereby missing an important opportunity to condemn and end the public degrading treatment to which she has been subjected as a woman parliamentarian;

- “Requests the Secretary General to convey this decision to the relevant parliamentary authorities, the complainant and any third party likely to be in a position to supply relevant information;

- “Decides to continue examining the case.”