 |
| US Senator Bob Menendez and detained Senator Leila De Lima / compiled photo from US Senate and Philstar |
Manila, Philippines - US Senator Bob Menendez has
called on detained Senator Leila de Lima’s release, along with other female
political prisoners.
In celebration of International Women’s Day on Friday,
the American lawmaker called to “redouble efforts” to free De Lima.
Menendez acknowledge De Lima as among those women activists around
the globe who are wronged and urged the governments "who are unjustly
detaining, harassing, and torturing women for exercising their fundamental
rights to immediately release these politically-motivated detentions."
“In the Philippines, Senator Leila de Lima, a brave champion
of human rights, launched an
investigation into extrajudicial executions that
began shortly after President [Rodrigo] Duterte took office in 2016,” said Menendez
De Lima has been detained over drug charges filed against
her by the Department of Justice (DOJ) before a court in Muntinlupa.
Menendez also said that De Lima's detention was President
Rodrigo Duterte’s move to silence her.
“As one of the only leaders bold enough to oppose President
Duterte’s ‘war on drugs’, she has faced prolonged arbitrary detention,
according to Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International," the American senator
said.
"President Duterte has sought to silence her courageous
voice as she spoke out against widespread human rights violations, including
thousands of extrajudicial executions of mostly poor and marginalized
people," he said.
Menendez, a ranking member of the US Senate Foreign
Relations Committee is the latest US lawmaker who has expressed concern over De
Lima’s plight.
Source: ABS CBN
0 Comments