Waging Just and Lasting Peace: A Look into the 2024 International People’s Tribunal and Respect for International Humanitarian Law

The People’s Forum on Peace for Life will be holding a national conference to commemorate the International Day of Peace on September 20, 2024 at UP Diliman, Quezon City. The conference is titled “Waging Just and Lasting Peace: A Look into the 2024 International People’s Tribunal and Respect for International Humanitarian Law“. Join us as we look into the 2024 IPT and how it influence peacebuilding movements in our nation amidst the ongoing civil war between the government and the revolutionary forces.

This forum is in partnership with the Promotion of Church People’s Response, the United Church of Christ in the Philippines – Justice Peace and Human Rights, and the Movement Against Tyranny.

Concept

Just and lasting peace is built on addressing the unjust socio-economic political structures rooted on neoliberal policies that for decades, several Philippine regimes never discontinued but rather, have only added up and imposed as dictated by the US empire. The continued suffering of and injustices to the Filipino people masked by globalization is what breeds insurgencies and wars. There could only be peace when justice is served.

No matter how President Bongbong Marcos, would claim in his third State of the Nation Address (SONA), that the country has made achievements and progress toward improving welfare of the Filipino people, the fact is the situation remains gloomy. According to the IBON Foundation, the country remains amongst those with the worst economic statistics from inflation rate to unemployment and poverty. The World Report 2024 of Human Rights Watch said, “The human rights situation in the Philippines remains dire amid extrajudicial killings, attacks against political activists and journalists, and abuses committed during the armed conflict with the 54-year old communist insurgency.” It is the peasant communities in the countryside which experience the most gruesome acts of terrorism, threats, bombings, and land grabbing. On the other hand, civil society organizations (CSOs), including mass organizations and activists, also suffer from the same human rights abuses in the form of terror-tagging, enforced disappearances, and harassment. This amount of oppression and injustice is what drives the Filipino masses into militantly asserting their rights, with some seeing the need to wage war against the government.

The struggle for genuine social reforms and justice becomes more challenging when brazen impunity continues and domestic remedies remain inadequate and ineffective that, by and large, fail to give justice to the victims of human rights violations. The need for an international platform to address the social ills of our nation and expose the oppression and terrorism of the government becomes necessary. Modeled after previous international quasi-judicial fora such as the 1967 International War Crimes Tribunal exposing war crimes against the Vietnamese people and the 1980 Permanent People’s Tribunal addressing the war crimes and abuses by Ferdinand Marcos Sr., the 2024 International People’s Tribunal was held to serve a genuine pursuit of justice under the watch of not only the Filipino people but also the international community. It is a step towards achieving just and lasting peace in our country.

On September 21, the 52nd Anniversary of the Declaration of Martial Law will be remembered as we also commemorate on that day, the United Nations’ International Day of Peace in parallel with the World Council of Churches’ International Day of Prayer for Peace. We thus remember our day of infamy but at the same time we are challenged to revitalize our calling as peacebuilders and peacemakers.

This conference, on the eve of these commemorations, is therefore a call on the church people and faith-based organizations along with the academe and other people’s organizations from different sectors to reclaim and revitalize our vocation as peacebuilders. This will also be a venue for understanding the root causes of the ongoing civil war, and the counter-insurgency programs in the Philippines directly supported by the United States. Recent community visits across the country will also be shared, especially the dire conditions that the people from the communities are experiencing under the current fascist administration. In particular, evidence and testimonies presented during the 2024 IPT will be shared by the witnesses, including the reading of the verdict. Lastly a declaration and a clear statement on the steps to be taken in achieving a just and lasting peace in the Philippines shall be collectively made.

You may download the indicative program here:

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