Senator Leila de Lima. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / MARIANNE BERMUDEZ
Opposition Senator Leila de Lima has been featured alongside prominent human rights defenders (HRDs) Martin Luther King Jr. and Nelson Mandela at the second Human Rights Defenders (HRD) World Summit held in Paris, France on October 29 to 31.
One hundred and fifty HRDs from across the globe gathered at the Place du Trocadéro – where the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was signed 70 years ago – to pay tribute to human rights activists, who were either killed or unjustly imprisoned by presenting their photographs.
“We paid tribute to all HRDs who were killed or are imprisoned,” read a post from HRD World Summit’s Twitter account.
“We demand justice for all of them, we celebrate the struggle of all those who resist despite the risks they face, and we’ll work together to protect HRDs across the world,” it also said.
Today in #Paris we paid tribute to all HRDs who were killed or are imprisoned. We demand justice for all of them, we celebrate the struggle of all those who resist despite the risks they face, and we’ll work together to protect HRDs across the world. #HRDWorldSummit pic.twitter.com/O6w9IUsTcA
— Human Rights Defenders World Summit 2018 (@HRDWorldSummit) October 31, 2018
Aside from De Lima, King, and Mandela, other human rights activists whose photographs were showcased at the event included Abdulhadi al-Khawaja of Bahrain, Narges Mohammad of Iran, and Munir Said Thalib of Indonesia, among others.
To all the brave and fearless Human Rights Defenders of the 🌍 pic.twitter.com/WsYTvGjQPW
— Human Rights Defenders World Summit 2018 (@HRDWorldSummit) October 31, 2018
In May, De Lima, a fierce critic of the Duterte administration, was also named as one of notable “Women Human Rights Defenders Under Threat” by Amnesty International.
The lawmaker is currently detained at the Philippine National Police-Custodial Center, in Camp Crame, Quezon City for drug charges she repeatedly denounced as “trumped-up” and “fabricated by the Duterte administration.”
De Lima has filed Senate Bill (SB) No. 1699 or the “Human Rights Defenders Act of 2018,” which seeks to institutionalize and enforce state obligations for the protection of HRDs’ rights. /kga