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| Leila de Lima (Image: Wiki Commons) |
By Patricia Lourdes Viray
MANILA, Philippines — A global organization of national parliaments and lawmakers want to visit Sen. Leila de Lima in jail and examine her case.
On the closing day of its assembly in Dhaka, Bangladesh, the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) called for a fact-finding mission by the Committee on the Human Rights of Parliamentarians to the Philippines.
The organization has expressed concern over the detention of De Lima for her alleged involvement in the proliferation of the illegal drug trade at the New Bilibid Prison (NBP).
The group wishes to receive further details on the prison conditions of De Lima in the Philippine National Police custodial center.
"The Senator has been a vocal critic of President Duterte, leading a series of investigations into alleged extra judicial killings when he was Mayor of Davao city and initiating an inquiry into the alleged summary killings of thousands of alleged drug users and dealers since he took office in June 2016 and waged his war on drugs," the organization said in a statement.
In its resolution, the IPU said that the accusations against De Lima do not make sense given that she has been the one taking action against the alleged drug trafficking in the national penitentiary.
The organization noted that De Lima is being targeted due to her outspoken criticism of the Duterte administration's policies on human rights.
Read the full story at PhilStar