SC upholds RP commitment not to prosecute US soldiers
02/04/2011The Supreme Court has upheld an agreement between the Philippine and the United States governments signed eight years ago prohibiting the filing of criminal charges against American soldiers before the International Criminal Court (ICC).
In a 44-page decision signed by Associate Justice Presbitero Velasco Jr., the court en banc with two magistrates dissenting dismissed the petition filed by militant group Bayan Muna seeking to declare the agreement unconstitutional.
The group claimed that former President Arroyo and the Department of Foreign Affairs committed grave abuse of discretion for concluding the RP-US non-surrender deal through an executive agreement.
Bayan Muna insisted that the Philippine government, in effect, abandoned its recourse through the Rome Statute to prosecute persons, including American troops, who have committed crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and the crime of aggression..... MORE
Source: The Daily Tribune
URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/headlines/20110204hed2.html
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