The complaint, filed by Committee for the Defense of Lawyers (Codal) spokesman lawyer Neri Javier Colmenares in behalf of Beltran, was received by Marcus Schmidt, head of the Petitions Unit of the UNHRC, who transmitted it right away to Pierre del Prado of the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention in Geneva, Switzerland.

Colmenares said the filing of the case against Mrs. Arroyo and her administration was based on her violation of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and other international human rights laws.

In the complaint, Codal said the Arroyo government’s arrest of Beltran is illegal because it was done on the basis of his political beliefs which goes against the administration and that the warrant used in having him arrested was based on a case that was filed against him by the administration of then President Ferdinand Marcos in 1985 but was dismissed in 1986, when the late strongman was overthrown in a popular uprising.

The case slapped against Beltran, a former street parliamentarian and now member of Congress, was said to have been among the several politically motivated cases filed by the Marcos administration against its dissenters during his term, especially during Martial Law.

"By using that same case to have Beltran arrested, Mrs. Arroyo is in essence had him imprisoned for his political beliefs and not for any criminal act committed by him. This is strictly prohibited under international laws," Colmenares said.

Beltran, who was arrested by the Philippine National Police-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group last Feb. 25, just hours after Mrs. Arroyo declared a state of national emergency over a reported uncovered coup against her government, remains in police custody despite the absence of any judicial order for his detention.

The complaint lodged by Codal also stated that despite a release order issued by a Quezon City Regional Trial Court judge last March 13, the police still refuses to free him.