US SENATE PANEL: FREE DE LIMA, DROP RAPS VS RESSA

A United States Senate panel has approved a resolution urging the Philippine government to free detained opposition Sen. Leila de Lima and drop all charges against journalist and Rappler CEO Maria Ressa.

US Sen. Ed Markey, who filed Senate Resolution No. 142 together with four other lawmakers, said the passage of the resolution “demonstrates broad support for accountability” in De Lima’s case.

“For over 1,000 days now, @Senleiladelima has languished in prison. Her crime: standing for human rights and good governance in the Philippines,” Markey said on Twitter on Thursday.

Continued detention

He added: “Today’s passage of my resolution out of @Senateforeign demonstrates broad support for accountability in her case and with others.”

The resolution, which was passed by the US Senate’s foreign relations committee, cited the Philippine government “for its continued detention” of De Lima and called for “her immediate release.”

It further cited the “harassment,

arrest, and unjustified judicial proceedings against Philippine media and journalists, in particular, the proceeding against Rappler and Maria Ressa.”

‘Prisoner of conscience’

The resolution said De Lima had been detained “solely on account of her political views and the legitimate exercise of her freedom of expression.”

De Lima, a leading critic of the Duterte administration, has been detained in Camp Crame—headquarters of the Philippine National Police—since February 2017 on drug charges, which the senator branded as “trumped-up.”

The resolution also called on the Philippine government to “remove restrictions on her personal and work conditions, and allow her to fully discharge her legislative mandate, especially as chair of the committee on social justice.”

It urged the Philippine government, further, “to recognize the importance of human rights defenders and their work, and allow them to operate freely without fear of reprisal and … to guarantee the right to the freedom of the press, and to drop all the charges against Maria Ressa and Rappler.”