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Filipino elected president of int'l activist lawyers group
by IAPL
Monday, Oct. 16, 2006 at 7:05 PM
Amid the terror of President Bush and his sidekick Gloria Arroyo, people's lawyers raise the flag of resistance in their congress held in the Philippines.
Veteran Filipino human rights lawyer Edre U. Olalia is now the new president of theInternational Association of People’s Lawyers , a global organization of human rights and public interest lawyers.
Olalia’s election is one of the highlights of the third congress of the IAPL held In Davao City from Oct. 12-14.
The IAPL also condemned the Arroyo government’s inability or refusal to protect its citizens from extrajudicial killings. It likewise batted for an independent investigation into the political killings.
The group likewise assailed the curtailment of civil liberties and human rights brought about by the US-led war on terror.
In a statement, Olalia said his election is both a tribute to the commitment and good fighting record of people’s lawyers in the Philippines and a symbol of IAPL’s resolve to help Filipinos seek an end to extrajudicial killings and human rights violations under the Arroyo government.
Olalia is a member of the Public Interest Law Center (PILC) and a convenor of the Counsels for the Defense of Liberties (CODAL) .
Also elected were Julio Moreira of Brazil as vice president, Raf Jespers of Belgium as secretary-general, Hakan Harakus of Turkey as auditor, and Samina Kabir of Afghanistan and Bhusal Surendra as board members. Sebastian Pallisery of India was elected honorary chairperson.
Romeo T. Capulong, former ad litem judge in the United Nations Tribunal on the Former Yugoslavia, was elected IAPL Eminent Person.
The IAPL congress also helped pave the way for a national consultation of Filipino human rights and public interest lawyers that came up with concrete responses to slays and assaults against activists and even lawyers and judges. A National Union of People’s Lawyers is set to hold its founding congress in February 2007.
www.iapl.net
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