De Lima to Duterte : “only a matter of time” before other nations follow suit in sanctioning your administration

It looks like detained opposition senator Leila De Lima is gonna have a big smile this Christmas despite still in detention in Camp Crame.

The lady senator has called out the Duterte administration to be ready for the repercussion of her “unlawful” arrest. De Lima said “accountability is coming” after the United States of America and Canada has expressed support in the imposition of sanctions on Philippine officials behind her arrest.

Recently, US President Donald Trump has signed the 2020 appropriations which includes a provision that allows the US to apply the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act and sanction Philippines officials involved in the "wrongful imprisonment" of opposition senator Leila De Lima since 2017.

Opposition Senator Leila De Lima
(photo credit to owner)

The Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act law authorizes the US government to sanction those who it sees as human rights offenders, freeze their assets, and ban them from entering the US.

Opposition senator De Lima said Trump's signature "signifies a solid recognition by the US government that I am a clear victim of political persecution."

De Lima said it was “only a matter of time” before other nations follow suit in sanctioning the Duterte administration.

"Systematic and widespread violation of human rights, like what we experience under the Duterte regime, is not an exercise of sovereignty or independence," she said in a statement.

"It is a crime against humanity that must be condemned and punished with sanctions by the community of nations, as it is now being punished by the US Congress."

De Lima thanks Prime Minister Trudue

The detained senator also made her heartfelt thanks to Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau who, she said, directed his foreign minister to penalize rights violators by "building on the US Magnitsky Act."

“The recent move of PM Trudeau to propose hefty sanctions for perpetrators of human rights abuses globally is a step in the right direction which reminds the world that rights violations should and never be tolerated by all countries and its leaders,” she said.

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Report from ABS-CBN News