Human rights attorney Amal Alamuddin. AP FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines鈥揓ustice Secretary Leila de Lima on Wednesday rebuts human-rights lawyer Amal Alamuddin-Clooney, wife of American actor George Clooney, saying the continued detention of former President, now Pampanga Representative Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is part of the judicial process and is outside the control of the Executive branch of government.
鈥淲e are presuming that lawyer Amal Alamuddin-Clooney is knowledgeable of the workings of the Philippine criminal justice system because it is patterned after the American system, which must be familiar to her. She must also therefore know that in such a system, the Executive is not the branch of government that issues commitment or detention orders of those accused of committing a crime,鈥� de Lima said.
Clooney was quoted as saying the continued detention of Mrs. Arroyo has violated her human rights. Arroyo鈥檚 lawyers confirmed that Clooney filed a suit on Feb. 26 in the UN Working Group of Arbitrary Detention, a body under the UN Commission on Human Rights.
Clooney hoped to persuade the UN to call on Manila to release Arroyo, who is suffering from a disease of the spine and is under hospital arrest at the Veterans Memorial Medical Center in Quezon City.
BACKSTORY: George Clooney鈥檚 wife urges UN to act swiftly on Arroyo鈥檚 complaint
But de lima, who called Clooney鈥檚 act as a 鈥渇lamboyant gesture鈥� said under international human rights standards, 鈥渁 commitment or detention order issued against an accused in accordance with a State鈥檚 independent judicial processes is recognized as a valid cause for restraining one鈥檚 liberty.鈥�
Arroyo is under detention for plunder pending before the Sandiganbayan in connection with the alleged misuse of P366-million intelligence fund from the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO).
鈥淭here is no question that under no circumstances is Rep. Arroyo鈥檚 detention for the non-bailable crime of plunder violative of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights or the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,鈥� de Lima said.
The Justice chief added that if Clooney thinks Mrs. Arroyo is being deprived of her liberty, she should instead direct her petition to the judiciary, 鈥渟ince the Aquino administration is not responsible for the fact that the judiciary does not subscribe to her claim that her continued detention is a result of political persecution.鈥�
鈥淩ep. Arroyo鈥檚 predicament are neither made grander nor more dramatic merely because they are raised by a celebrity lawyer before an international forum. The flamboyant gesture only reflects the paucity of her cries of political persecution,鈥� she added.