We send warm solidarity greetings to our fellow progressive lawyers in the Philippines!

PROGRESS Lawyers Network is pleased to see civil rights lawyers, human rights lawyers and people’s lawyers uniting themselves in a National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers.

Policy makers are often more committed to developing new repressive bills and laws promoting neo liberal economic policies instead of finding solutions for the people’s problems.

The so-called War on Terror is revealing the real nature of the imperialist rulers. It is abused to impose special investigation methods, repressive laws and arbitrary detention, giving the State more power, but violating the basic human rights. Anti terrorist laws are made all over the world to criminalize people who stand up for improvement or change in society. Basic human rights as freedom of speech and the right of association and assembly, as well as trade union rights are in real danger. More and more people are becoming a victim of a system where profit and power are the central issues.

In the middle of 2003 the UN published a report stating that within a period of ten years the number of people living in poverty and not having access to drinkable water will increase by two billion worldwide. This is one third of the total world population. Poverty and lawlessness are increasing.
Millions of workers from third world countries are forced to migrate in order to find a decent existence. Abroad, those migrants are often exploited and rarely have equal rights.
Under the leadership of the United States, international law is systematically destroyed and perverted. Wars are compelling people to flee.

Governments, employers’ federations and multinational companies save neither trouble nor effort to impose their will to the people everywhere in the world, by the use of their own laws. Lately they hire big international law companies to make sure their interests will be protected. They pay millions to batteries of corporate lawyers to restrict strikes and other actions of labor movements.

We believe that the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers and similar organizations all over the world can be a progressive counterpart to this.
The world needs committed lawyers to unite themselves and use their legal skills and expertise to protect the fundamental rights and liberties; to offer the best defense for victims of our current society and for those who are striving for a change that benefits the people.

But at the same time we must be aware that the defense of our clients’ interests exceeds a pure legal approach. People’s lawyers have to relate the defense of the individual to the struggle for the rights of a large group of organized people.

PROGRESS Lawyers Network has strong ties with progressive lawyers in the Philippines. In this country there is an even greater need for people’s lawyers. For centuries already, Filipino people are struggling for their rights: against colonial domination, for independency, against dictatorships and imperialist oppression. But they never gave up.

In the Philippines it has become very dangerous to be a human rights lawyer; to stand by activists, unionists, farmers and indigenous people in their opposition to the current economical en political situation.

Lawyers and paralegals are become victims of surveillance, serious harassment and intimidation in the exercise of their profession. Too big a number of them are threatened with death, or even worse: killed.
These attacks are in violation of international principles set forth in the Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers adopted by the United Nations. Adequate protection of human rights requires that persons shall have effective access to legal services.
The intimidation of lawyers undermines the practice of law and the ability to fulfill the sworn obligation to serve clients to the fullest. When the independence of lawyers is in danger, the rule of law and the faith in the judiciary system is in danger too.

We reiterate our deepest solidarity with these lawyers who continue to strive for their clients’ rights under these dangerous circumstances. We admire their courage and perseverance.

We fully support the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers in the struggle for justice.

Thank you.

On behalf of PROGRESS Lawyers Network

Atty. Jan Fermon                       Atty. Raf Jespers                    Atty. Jo Dereymaeker