The following statement by PGA Member Hon. Leila M. de Lima (The Philippines) was submitted at a side event of the 39th United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) Session, Geneva, Switzerland on 13 September 2018.
Shattering the Consensus of Silence: Let’s Take Urgent Actions Against Impunity in the Philippines by Hon. Leila M. de Lima (Senator, The Philippine)
(Leila M. De Lima is a prominent Filipino senator who is presently detained due to her strong opposition to the Philippine government’s murderous war on drugs. Named by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch as a “prisoner of conscience” and first prominent political prisoner in the Philippines, she remains a vocal critic of the Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s anti-democratic and anti-poor policies. For her work in justice and human rights fronts, Ms. De Lima is this year’s “Prize for Freedom” awardee by the Liberal International, the 2018 “Most Distinguished HR Defender” by Amnesty International and one of the “World’s 50 Greatest Leaders” by Fortune Magazine. Time Magazine and Foreign Policy Magazine also named her as one of the “100 Most Influential People” for 2017 and “100 Leading Global Thinkers” for 2016 and 2017.)
