Lawmakers international group takes cudgels for Trillanes

Sen. Trillanes

The Inter-Parliamentary Union urged the Philippine Senate to act on the resolution allowing him to perform his dutiees as elected senator noting that his six-year detention, despite his not having been convicted of any crime, is a violation of his basic rights.

In its letter to majority floor leader Senator Miguel Zubiri to act on a 2008 Senate resolution allowing detained Senator Antonio Trillanes IV to participate in the sessions and other legislative functions through remote or electronic means.

They called on authorities to “ensure that the resolution is implemented without further delay.”

“The Philippines is a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights which enshrines fair trial guarantees and that, as a member of the United Nations Human Rights Council, it has pledged to uphold the highest standards of human rights,” said the IPU.

With 150 members, the IPU is the official international organization of the parliaments of the world’s sovereign states. It was established in 1889 and is currently based in Geneva, Switzerland.

The IPU lamented that not implementing the resolution prevents Trillanes from exercising his mandate meaningfully and deprives his electorate of representation in parliament.

More…