Immunity

July 30, 2008

“Can Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo be tried in an international court?” I asked Professor Tuazon a year ago in our Special Topics in Political Science class. We were discussing the theory of command responsibility then and I was interested to know whether it could apply to our beloved President regarding accusations of human rights violations.

 

“How?” the professor asked. I didn’t know. He proceeded to explain that while the President is in power, she cannot be tried for anything anywhere. We might have hope after her term is over (hopefully) in two years when she could be tried in any court—local or international—but it is not that simple. It depends on the political landscape present in two years’ time.

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