US Congress public hearing on PH war-on-drugs killings set for July 20

Members of the Filipino American Human Rights Alliance, with Ellecer Carlos, second from right, at Rep. Jackie Speier’s office in San Mateo, California. CONTRIBUTED

WASHINGTON, DC — The US Congress through the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission will hold a public hearing on “Philippine Extrajudicial Killings” on July 20, Thursday at 8:30 a.m. EST.

Leaders from iDefend, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and a public health institution will testify before the commission’s members.

Key speaker will be Ellecer Carlos, spokesperson of I Defend Human Rights and Dignity Movement (iDefend) who completed a speaking tour in Europe and the US, on issues of extrajudicial killings, martial law, China’s illegal incursion in the West Philippine Sea and alleged creeping authoritarianism in the Philippines under President Rodrigo Duterte.

On July 19, Wednesday, members of the Filipino American Human Rights Alliance (FAHRA) will convene with the offices of Rep. Jackie Speier (D-San Francisco/San Mateo) in DC and San Mateo, California, to push for the introduction of complementary Senate bills co-introduced by Senators Cardin (D-Maryland) and Marco Rubio (R-Florida): S1055 – The Philippine Human Rights Accountability and Counternarcotics Act of 2017; S659 – Impose Sanctions With Respect to People’s Republic of China’s activities in South China Sea and East China Sea.

For more information call (202) 225-3531.