FILE Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque
A group of human rights lawyers have urged the International Law Commission (ILC) to reject Presidential spokesman Harry Roque’s attempt to join the United Nations body, saying his defense of contempt for President Duterte for human rights made him “unsuitable” for the post.
Roque confirmed his candidacy for the ILC on Monday. He is currently in New York to campaign for this post.
In a letter, the Free Legal Assistance Group (Flag) listed Roque’s actions as the spokesperson for Mr. Duterte in contravention of the principles of the CDI, established by the United Nations in 1947 to develop and adopt international law.
He said Roque, who was hit by brickbats on social media last week for crassly berating a doctor at the meeting of the Interagency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases, would only “tarnish »The position he was applying for.
“His public defense of extrajudicial killings, his depreciation of the jurisdiction and jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court and his cavalier disregard for the effects of national human rights violations … make him unsuitable for the work of the commission,” said Flag.
Flag, led by its president, former dean Jose Manuel “Chel” Diokno, said Roque had used his understanding of international law to “undermine the protections that international law offers under a human rights regime. ‘man and rule of law’.
The Malacañang official, the group claims, would only use the ILC to promote himself and support his possible senatorial candidacy in next year’s national elections.
Although based in Geneva, Switzerland, ILC members are elected by the United Nations General Assembly, headquartered in New York.
Roque is one of 11 candidates from the Asia-Pacific region, which has eight seats on the committee.
He cited as a degree his long expertise in international law, which he taught for 15 years at the University of the Philippines (UP).
Roque was also Director of the Institute for International Legal Studies at the UP Law Center and President of the Asian Society of International Law. INQ
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