The International Association of Democratic Lawyers (IADL) passed a resolution on November 30 in its meeting in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam to ‘urge the Philippine government to commit to end extrajudicial killings in the “war against illegal drugs”’ and ‘end extrajudicial killings, illegal arrests and other human rights violations against the people and members of people’s organizations.’ The resolution also called for the respect of international human rights and international humanitarian law and to ensure the protection of human rights defenders, including human rights lawyers.

The meeting was attended by lawyers from Algeria, Bangladesh, Belgium, Costa Rica, France, India, Indonesia, Italy, Japan, North Korea, Pakistan, Philippines, South Africa, South Korea, United Kingdom, United States, and Vietnam.

The IADL has a consultative status in the United Nations Economic and Social Council (UN ECOSOC), one of the six principal organs of the United Nations. The IADL was founded on October 24, 1946 in Paris in a gathering of lawyers who had survived the war against fascism and participated in the Nuremberg Trials. Rene Cassin, a drafter of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, was named first IADL President.

(Read story…)