Now it can be told

Here is the story of how Amal took up the case of former President Gloria Arroyo to the UN Commission of Human Rights. When it was happening I tried to say as little as I could. The public knew that I had something to do with it but only vaguely. How did it happen, that an internationally known lawyer of human rights would come to Manila, interview her and then within the day agree to take up her case? Besides her room at the Veterans Memorial Hospital was guarded and no one would be allowed to pass without signing their names. Names had to be submitted at least a day before they come.

Just a week before Amal came to Manila I was with her mother, Baria who invited me to stay in their house in London. We have been long time friends since my exile in London. The room where I stayed had lovely shoes and dresses – it was Amal’s room in their family house. She now lived in a flat in Kensington but her clothes were washed in her mom’s house. Baria and I planned to go to the West End to have coffee in Harrods after passing by Amal’s flat. I knew her only through her mother’s stories about her, her friends and her work as an international lawyer. We chatted about many things but her instincts were sharp when it came to politics in the Philippines, including former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s incarceration.  It was just among many things we talked about. Never in my wildest dreams did I think that conversation will lead to her taking up the case of President GMA.

I went home soon after that thinking that it was just one of dozens of conversations I have had and the part on GMA was just a little aside. But in a few days, I received a call from her. She was on her way to Singapore  and she could drop by Manila for a day. To continue talking about GMA, I suppose. But she said nothing. She could stay with me so we could talk some more. But it was more than that.

She had someone carrying her luggage (A co-passenger) and she whispered to me “ he knows you and he told me I could trust you. I did not know until later what she meant. I would have to make it possible for her to talk to the incarcerated president – all in less than a day. And how could we pass the guards without asking what we were visiting the former president for? But I said, “Ok.” Not also knowing how we would be able do that. It was touch and go.

I said to Amal to walk as casually as she could by my side, I will sign my name and you go ahead. Thinking back, I think it was because she was tall, beautiful and foreign. She was not Filipino. What indeed would she to do with the incarcerated Filipino president? Once inside Mrs. Arroyo put her radio on full blast as they talked about her case. Amal explained how her law firm, the Doughty Chambers in London worked. By that time without anyone knowing it, Amal had agreed to take up her case and she would soon be in touch with GMA’s lawyers. Other than saying her mother was a friend,  I kept mum on how it all happened.

I wanted her to get a feel of Manila, well at least on its social night life. I was invited to several parties so I brought her along with me. I don’t know if she remembered that I introduced her to former President FVR at the Chinese national day celebration, or to American Ambassador then Harry Thomas. It was the Lebanese consul, Suferjoe Habibie, who took us along to the wine museum owned by the Josephs, wine importers and wholesalers. I had many friends who greeted me and she said, “Gosh Carmen you have so many friends” (She was not yet Mrs. Clooney.) There was even a naughty report which said that I was paying the lawyer’s fee for Amal. (Yikes). I gave a dinner for her and invited close friends with an interest in international law.

There was a serious side to Amal’s day in Manila but I kept the information close to my chest until Doughty Chambers would have filed the case with the UN.

As I wrote in a previous column “Two UN decisions that affect us are related. The first is the UN decision in favor of former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo that her human rights were violated by the Aquino government by keeping her imprisoned without trial and no evidence against her according to the rules of law and evidence.

The other UN decision from UNCLOS that it would hear the case the Philippines lodged against China on their dispute in the South China Sea (Whatever happened to that case?) As far as I know the decision from the Arbitral Commission is not the same as the one before the UNCLOS.

These decisions are ironic because in the first case the Aquino government refuses to honor the UN decision. The UN found the Aquino government violated GMA’s human rights on three counts. As far as I know, the UN decision is being contested by the Sandiganbayan which has redefined the meaning of “plunder” to keep GMA under detention. She has now been acquitted from the plunder charges.

The UN Working Group issued an opinion and endorsed all the arguments in the complaint filed by Amal Clooney.

In a nutshell, this was the decision from the UN Commission on Human Rights. I quote from Amal’s letter to GMA’s Philippine lawyers: “More specifically the panel (UN Working Group) ruled that her (GMA) detention is arbitrary under each and all of the three categories of arbitrariness recognized by the UN Working Group that we had put forward in our Petition (categories ii, iii, and v) holding that: Mrs. Arroyo was denied bail on grounds that are not compatible with international law; she did not benefit from the presumption in favor of bail; she was denied bail exclusively on the basis of the alleged strength of evidence against her; measures alternative to pre-trial detention were not considered and there were undue delays in considering her bail position in the proceedings against her as a whole.”

Accordingly the UN recommended the ‘reconsideration of Mrs. Arroyo’s application for bail in accordance with the relevant international human rights standards.’ As far as I know the decision also required that Mrs. Arroyo be paid damages for her unjust incarceration. The next step is for rehabilitation that she and she alone will decide.