On May 17-18, 2024, the International People’s Tribunal (IPT) 2024 will be held in Brussels, Belgium. The tribunal, titled KATARUNGAN: The Filipino People vs. the U.S. government, and the Marcos and Duterte regimes is a quasi-judicial forum that aims to investigate and address alleged war crimes and violations of international humanitarian law committed by the US-supported Marcos Jr. and Duterte regimes.
Putting war criminals behind bars is not an easy task. While established institutions such as the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the International Court of Justice (ICJ) do exist and are indeed critical avenues to hold states and war criminals accountable for their egregious violations of international law, these institutions are also hampered by the strong tide of US imperialist interests.
For instance, it took less than a year for the ICC to investigate and then issue a warrant of arrest against Russian President Vladimir Putin for a genocide case pertaining to the ongoing war in Ukraine. In comparison, the case against Benjamin Netanyahu on his war crimes in Palestine remains pending in court. Under the Trump administration, it can be recalled how the US imposed sanctions on then-ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda meant to dissuade her from prosecuting US officials for war crimes committed in Afghanistan and against US allies, particularly ‘Israel.’
While institutions like the ICC operate within a framework of international law, they are not immune to geopolitical influences. The specter of US imperialism looms large, shaping the priorities and outcomes of these institutions in ways that often prioritize powerful interests over people’s justice. The complexity and limitations of these existing bourgeois courts of justice have pushed peoples to seek alternative avenues of redress and justice, hence the rise of people’s tribunals.
The concept of people’s tribunals traces its roots back in the 1960s – a period marked by the rise of liberation struggles against colonial rule. The Russell Tribunal, convened by philosopher Bertrand Russell, stands as a seminal example of a court of public opinion that for the first time in history sent the US government to trial for its war crimes against the Vietnamese people. It provided a platform for examining war crimes committed by US imperialism and effectively challenged the dominant narrative propagated by the US.
This pioneering effort laid the groundwork for a new approach to international law and justice particularly for national liberation movements that seek to hold their oppressors to account: a concept of a people’s tribunal that prioritized the voices of the marginalized masses and holds perpetrators accountable in the court of international public opinion.
The Russell Tribunal was followed by the establishment of the People’s Permanent Tribunal (PPT) in 1979. The PPT held its first session on the Philippines in 1980 upon the suit of the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) and the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF). The 1980 PPT was a landmark event as it found the fascist Marcos Sr. regime guilty of crimes against the Filipino people. More importantly, the PPT effectively recognized the status of belligerency of the NDFP, providing further legitimacy for the Filipino people’s struggle for self-determination.
People’s tribunals therefore emerged as indispensable instruments within the arsenal of national liberation struggles, serving both a symbolic and practical means of advancing the cause for national and social liberation within their own respective contexts. These courts of public opinion allow liberation movements to wield significant influence over public perception and historical discourse. People’s tribunals offer a platform where revolutionary movements can reclaim their narratives, challenge the legitimacy of the ruling regime, and build international solidarity and support.
Since the first PPT in 1980, various people’s tribunals have been conducted to try war criminal administrations in the Philippines from Gloria-Macapagal Arroyo in 2007 and 2009, to Benigno Aquino III in 2015 and Rodrigo Duterte in 2018. This year, the IPT seeks to investigate the US-supported Marcos Jr. and Duterte regimes for their violations of International Humanitarian Law in the context of the ongoing armed conflict and in the conduct of the reactionary government’s ‘counterinsurgency’ operations designed and financed by the US government. The IPT will investigate cases of enforced disappearances, aerial bombings on communities, civilian massacres, and the killings of NDFP consultants protected under international rules of war.
Critics may argue people’s tribunals lack the enforceability of their institutional counterparts, rendering their verdicts symbolic rather than substantive. While this may be true to some extent, it overlooks the broader impact of these tribunals in shaping public discourse and mobilizing people’s movements to directly hold their oppressors accountable.
In an era marked by the strategic decline of US imperialism and the people’s increasing disillusionment with the current bourgeois justice system, people’s tribunals offer an alternative platform of resistance for national liberation movements seeking genuine democracy and justice.
Moreover, people’s tribunals serve a crucial educational function, raising awareness about pressing issues and fostering a culture of solidarity and resistance. In the case of the Philippines, where historical amnesia and revisionism threaten to erase the memory of past atrocities of the Marcos Sr. fascist dictatorship, people’s tribunals offer a counter-narrative rooted in truth and revolutionary justice.
The International People’s Tribunal on the War Crimes of the US-Marcos and US-Duterte regimes represent a crucial opportunity to address historical injustices and exact accountability for their crimes against humanity. By examining the role of the United States in supporting the Duterte and Marcos regimes and holding them accountable to their violations of international humanitarian law, the IPT aims to contribute to the ongoing pursuit of truth, justice, and accountability.
The importance, therefore, of the upcoming IPT titled KATARUNGAN: The Filipino People vs the US Government, Marcos and Duterte regimes cannot be overstated. From the streets of Manila and the farmlands of the Philippine countryside, the voices of the fighting Filipino masses find resonance with the IPT, demanding nothing less than justice and liberation for all.
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