The Philippine Alliance for Human Rights Advocates (PAHRA) is urging the government to ratify the International Convention against Enforced Disappearance as well as the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (ICC) to give human rights victims other avenues to assert their rights.

PAHRA chairperson Max de Mesa said the ratification of the International Convention against Enforced Disappearance “can also serve as a law that would also benefit those subjected to abductions, [as well as] torture,” adding that it will also benefit other human rights victims, whether by a state or non-state entity.

“The problem is that it is not being pushed resolutely,” De Mesa lamented.

De Mesa said the ratification of the international convention by the Philippine government will have an impact as it will pressure the government towards the implementation of human rights policies because it will affect trade and aid, especially military aid by foreign countries.

The International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance against Enforced Disappearances was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly by consensus last December 20, 2006. It establishes a set of mechanisms at the national and international levels that will enable States parties to prevent effectively enforced disappearances.

Meanwhile, the PAHRA is also pushing for the ratification of the Rome Statute, saying that the government has “nothing to fear.”

“Filipinos can go over to the international body to seek redress,” De Mesa explained.

The Rome Statute of the ICC will be an avenue to help solve human rights issues “when all national attempts to resolve an issue” fail, said De Mesa.

“It is an affirmation that people have rights in whatever level, whether national or international,” he said.

The ICC is a permanent tribunal for the punishment of the crimes and has its official seat of the court in The Hague, Netherlands although the court proceedings may take place anywhere. The Rome Statute was founded on July 1, 2002.

The Philippines’ ratification of the Rome Statute has also been pushed by the European Union, saying that it will be crucial for trying crimes like genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression.

Currently, there are 110 member-states of the ICC, the latest to ratify the Rome Statute is the Czech Republic just this month. An ICC is said to be the “missing link” in the international legal system.

Philippine Human Rights Information Center executive director Dr. Nymia Pimentel Simbulan said that in 2001, there had been 830 cases of arbitrary arrest involving 2,913 individuals; 248 cases of torture; 23 cases of enforced disappearance and abduction, and 231 political prisoners.