Lawyers band together vs EJKs, rights abuses

A BROAD NETWORK of lawyers, judges, law professors and students was launched on Thursday, Nov. 2, demanding an end to extrajudicial killings (EJKs) and the increasing human rights violations under the Duterte administration.

The group, Manlaban sa EJK or Mga Manananggol Laban sa (Lawyers Against) Extra-Judicial Killings, said it would join forces with other sectors and groups “struggling against the descent of the country into the dark abyss of lawlessness, persecution of the poor, attacks against critics and human rights advocates and authoritarian methods or rule.”

The acronym of the group, which means “fight” or “resist,” is apparently their take on “nanlaban,” literally “fought back,” which is the invariable explanation police give for the thousands of suspected drug users and pushers killed in antinarcotics operations.

“Members of the legal profession and law students who value sanctity of human rights and the equitable rule of law cannot stand idly by in the midst of these attacks on the right to life, liberty, dignity and security of the people. Today, we join the ever growing voices of protest against rampant killings which target the poor, to defend rights and demand accountability,” Manlaban said at its launch at the Kamuning Bakery and Cafe in Quezon City.

“We demand an end to extrajudicial killings as well as other ill-conceived draconian measures in any guise or form by the government and its instrumentalities and the genuine investigation and due accountability of the perpetrators,” it added.

Right from the get-go, one of the convenors, former University of the Philippines law dean Pacifico Agabin said Mr. Duterte cannot escape accountability for the bloodshed.

“There is such a thing as command responsibility kasi we ratified (the) Rome Statute,” the international treaty that led to the creation of the International Criminal Court, he said.

Mr. Agabin also called the government’s description of its anti-drug campaign as a “war” a “propaganda device” that was “misleading kasi iisipin natin na ang war ay labanan at justified ang killing pero ito wala namang labanan eh ( because we would think that it was a war that involved fighting and the killings are justified but there is no fighting happening here).” — with a report