Due Process on Trial: The Duterte Arrest, the Rule of Law and Sovereignty + More

The recent release of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations’ preliminary report on the arrest of former President Rodrigo Duterte has sent ripples through the Philippine legal and political landscape. Chaired by Senator Imee Marcos, the report outlines what it calls “glaring violations” of constitutional rights, procedural lapses, and questionable coordination between the Philippine government and the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Due Process on Trial: The Duterte Arrest, the Rule of Law and Sovereignty

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Can Philippine President Marcos Survive the Wrath of the Dutertes? by Mong Palatino

As for President Marcos, he may have a solid plan to neutralize the Dutertes but it is the anguish of ordinary citizens reeling from high prices and low wages that he should be worried about. Even Vice President Sara Duterte is aware that the concern of the average voter is the economic crisis, which is why her arrival statement at The Hague when she visited her father focused on the need to address poverty, hunger, and joblessness in the Philippines. In other words, the most serious threat to the Marcos presidency is its own failure to fulfill the campaign promise of bringing down the price of rice and other goods, uplift the conditions of working families, and provide adequate and affordable services to the people.

Document: Arrest of Rodrigo Duterte

[2015] SECRET RECORD REVEALED IN AUSTRIAN COURT – YANUKOVICH PRESSURED INTO UNION WITH EU BY NULAND THREAT TO IMPRISON FIRTASH

A Vienna, Austria, court has ruled that Victoria Nuland (right), the US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, attempted to pressure the President of Ukraine, Victor Yanukovich (left), into accepting Ukrainian association with the European Union (EU) by threatening Ukrainian oligarch Dmitry Firtash with arrest, extradition to the US, and imprisonment on allegations of bribery several years ago in India.

October 30, 2013 – Ukraine president Yanukovich is pressured to join the EU by Victoria Nuland threat to extradite and imprison Dmitry Firtash (archived)

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Austria (12916) – Treaty on Extradition

Judge Rebuffs U.S. in Rejecting Extradition of Ukraine Billionaire

How Canada emerged as a haven for Ukrainian SS “Galicia Division” veterans and other Nazi accomplices and war criminals

Aided by the corporate media, Canada’s political establishment is trying to claim that parliament’s honouring last Friday of the 98-year-old Nazi Waffen SS veteran Yaroslav Hunka was the result of an unfortunate gaffe—a gaffe for which the House of Commons Speaker, Anthony Rota, is exclusively responsible.

The World Socialist Web Site has already exposed this false narrative at length.

Here we are republishing an article that first appeared on the WSWS on July 29, 2019. It discusses how and why Ottawa threw open its doors to Hunka and some 2,000 Ukrainian SS veterans. As the article explains, this was part of a broader policy of providing a safe haven to the Nazis’ Ukrainian fascist allies, so as to use them to advance Canadian imperialism’s interests at home and abroad.

Working in concert with the Ukrainian Canadian Congress (UCC), which had been founded at the government’s behest at the beginning of World War II, Ottawa used the Ukrainian fascists to combat left-wing influence among Canada’s large Ukrainian worker-farmer population and the labour movement more generally. The government also worked with the UCC to foment a rabidly anticommunist, virulently anti-Russian Ukrainian nationalism in collaboration with the CIA and British intelligence.

In recent decades, as Canada’s government under Liberals and Conservatives alike has worked with Washington and its NATO partners to harness Ukraine to NATO and the European Union, Ottawa’s alliance with the UCC and the Ukrainian far right has become an ever more important element of Canadian foreign policy.

A more extensive examination of the alliance between Canadian imperialism and the Ukrainian far right can be found in the May 2022 WSWS series “Canadian imperialism’s fascist friends,” including its fourth part: “How Ottawa provided the Ukrainian fascists refuge and incubated and promoted far-right Ukrainian nationalism.”

How Canada emerged as a haven for Ukrainian SS “Galicia Division” veterans and other Nazi accomplices and war criminals

Canadian Parliament Gives a Standing Ovation to Yaroslav Hunka, Who Fought for the 14th Division of Waffen SS

On 22nd September, the Canadian House of Commons gave a standing ovation to Yaroslav Hunka, a World War II veteran who fought for “Ukrainian independence” against Russian aggressors. This is how the speaker of the House, Anthony Rota, introduced him. The 98-year-old war veteran, however, was a member of a SS unit established in 1943 by the Nazis. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was also present during the occasion.

Canadian Parliament Gives a Standing Ovation to Yaroslav Hunka, Who Fought for the 14th Division of Waffen SS

Canada’s explosive claims against India put US in a pinch

Canada’s explosive claims against India put US in a pinch

The U.S. reportedly worked closely with Canada in investigating the apparent murder on its soil. President Biden has not publicly commented on the allegations, highlighting the tricky balancing act of standing by Canada without alienating India.

The Washington Post reported earlier this week that several senior officials of Canada’s Five Eyes allies, of which the U.S. is a member, were informed of the allegations ahead of the G20 summit in New Delhi. Nevertheless, no public comment was made by any senior leaders among the group’s members, which also include the U.K., Australia and New Zealand.

“The fact is that the Canadians have allowed some pretty dodgy people to use Canadian soil and to spread violent messages,” Dhume said.

“Under Trudeau, the foreign policy choices have been subordinated to domestic diaspora politics, given the importance of the Sikh diaspora in Canada, which have been important liberal voters. Trudeau, who has a minority in [Canadian] parliament, is only in power because of the [New Democratic Party] led by Jagmeet Singh,” Dehejia told The Hill.

Singh is the first Sikh to lead a major federal party in Canada, and helped Trudeau form a minority government last year after the Liberals failed to win a majority in parliament.

Reuters reported that an unnamed senior Canadian government source said Ottawa worked “very closely” with the United States on the intelligence assessment.

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