CITY OF SEATTLE
RESOLUTION __________________
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A RESOLUTION endorsing the Philippine Human Rights Act.
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WHEREAS, on January 30, 2017, the Seattle City Council unanimously passed Resolution 31730, affirming The City of Seattle as a Welcoming City that promotes policies and programs to foster inclusion for all, and serves its residents regardless of their immigration or refugee status, race, color, creed, religion, ancestry, national origin, age, sex, marital status, parental status, sexual orientation, gender identity, political ideology, disability, homelessness, or low-income or veteran status, and reaffirming the City's continuing commitment to advocate and support the well-being of all residents; and
WHEREAS, on July 3, 2020, then-President of the Philippines Rodrigo Duterte signed the Anti-Terrorism Act ("Act") into law; and
WHEREAS, the Act gives authority to the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to extrajudicially conduct arrests without warrants and detain suspects for 14 days, which can be extended by ten more days, and to place suspects under surveillance by the police or military for 60 days, which can also be extended by up to 30 days; and
WHEREAS, Section 49 of the Act outlines the scope of extraterritorial applications of the Anti-Terrorism Act by stating that it applies to "a Filipino citizen or national who commits any of the acts defined and penalized under ... this Act outside the territorial jurisdiction of the Philippines" and "individual persons who, although physically outside the territorial limits of the Philippines, commit any of the crimes mentioned ... inside the territorial limits of the Philippines"; and
WHEREAS, the extraterritorial applications of the Act define "foreign terrorist" as anyone who travels to the Philippines and is suspected by the Anti-Terror Council of the intent to commit "terrorist acts"; and
WHEREAS, the Philippine Government has employed red-tagging, a term us...
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