HUMAN RIGHTS

Bayan urges new AFP chief to stop extrajudicial killings

March 06, 2011
Kristine L. Alave; Agence France-Presse

MANILA, Philippines – Left-wing umbrella group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan urged Lieutenant General Eduardo Oban, the new chief of staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, to put a stop to the extrajudicial killings of political activists in the country.

Bayan secretary-general Renato Reyes Jr. said the killings of leftist activists that peaked during the presidency of now Pampanga Representative Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, continues up to this day. Since President Aquino assumed office on June 30, 2010, 40 activists have been killed, he said.

Left-wing activists believe the military is behind the killings. The AFP has denied the allegation.

“President Aquino must give clear and unequivocal orders to General Oban to stop the recent wave of extrajudicial killings. Human rights violations have continued from the Arroyo regime to the Aquino administration. Unfortunately, it does not get much attention from the president, unlike say, corruption in the military,” he said.

“The new chief of staff will be the chief operating officer of the internal security plan Bayanihan. He will be the chief implementer of the counter-insurgency program that continues to target unarmed activists,” Reyes added. ’

Aquino named Oban as the chief of staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines on Sunday. Oban, who comes from the Philippine Air Force, will replace General Ricardo David who is retiring on March 8. He will be the 42nd chief of the staff of the AFP.

Reyes said the Aquino government and the military should also stop the murders of political dissidents aside from cleaning the AFP of corruption.

Former AFP officials are currently being investigated by Congress for anomalous disbursements and allowances in the past.

Oban, he said, has attained the power to investigate the extrajudicial killings that claimed hundreds of lives. ’

“We’d like to see Aquino and the new chief of staff investigate human rights abuses in the same way they are investigating corruption of the AFP. We’d like to see the same attention from the executive and legislative branches given to the cases of enforced disappearances and torture, which continue till this day. We’d like to see the Senate investigate generals who have been implicated in extrajudicial killings then and now,” Reyes said.’

Citing information from the human rights group, Karapatan, Reyes said the latest victims of extrajudicial killings include Bayan Muna activist Rodel Estrellado of Barangay 3, Malilipot, Albay and B’laan tribal chief Rudy Dejos and his son Rody Rick Dejos of Barangay Zone-1, Sta. Cruz, Davao del Sur.

Estrallado was abducted near his house on February 25 and later found at a funeral home on Febraury 27. Earlier, the military reported that a certain “Elmer” Estrallado was killed on February 25 in an encounter with the AFP.

MILF seeks compensation for Moro victims of martial law

March 03, 2011
Edwin Fernandez; Inquirer Mindanao

COTABATO CITY, Philippines – The Moro Islamic Liberation Front wants to know if Moros who suffered under the Marcos regime are also entitled to compensation.

Khaled Musa, MILF deputy information chief, said this question cropped up in the wake of the distribution of $7.5 million in compensation to more than 1,000 individuals who filed a class suit against the Marcoses.

“Are Muslims who were massacred during the Marcos regime also entitled to compensation?” Musa asked.

The MILF claims that thousands of Moros were killed in massacres perpetrated by soldiers and state-sponsored paramilitary forces during martial law.

These included the Manili Massacre, Kauswagan Massacre, Tictapul Massacre, Malisbong Massacre, Patikul Massacre and Pata Island Massacre.

Musa said the irony was that the victims of excesses under the Marcos regime will never be able to sue.

“They have not filed their petitions, they are dead and therefore they cannot expect something forthcoming,” he said.

Musa said relatives of the victims have not filed petitions because they lacked access or were “not educated enough” to do so.

Musa said the government or Judge Manuel Real of the US District Court of Hawaii, who approved the distribution of the compensation, could best answer the question of whether or not Moro victims were entitled to it.

He also called on the government to do something in behalf of the massacre victims “in the spirit of justice and reconciliation.”

Urban poor leader shot dead

CBCP Online; Noel Sales Barcelona

A leader of a Kalipunan ng Damayang Mahihirap (The Unity for the Welfare of the Poor/Kadamay)-affiliate organization in Navotas City was shot dead by unknown assassins, March 16.

The victim was identified as Antonio "Nono" Homo, 47, a resident of Kadiwa, Barangay San Roque, and currently the president of the Nagkakaisang Samahan sa Kadiwa (NASAKA), an urban poor organization affiliated with Kadamay.

According to the Kadamay-Navotas spokesperson Arthur Cadungon, the victim was chatting with one of his neighbors when he was shot by unknown suspects. Cadungon connects the killing to the escalating campaign of NASAKA against the planned demolition of shanties in the area to give way to the city government's road widening and housing projects.

As of this writing, there were no statements issued by the Navotas City Government, about the killing.

Kadamay asked President Benigno Simeon C. Aquino III to act swiftly against extrajudicial or political killings.

The group also urged the chief executive to stop demolishing urban poor communities that usually result to senseless violence, and at this point, killing of militant leaders. 

Gov’t stymied by killings of journalists 

By Nikko Dizon; Philippine Daily Inquirer03/25/2011

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima admitted Friday that the government was faced with some difficulty in solving the murders of media personalities given that motives for the killings may not even be related to their work as journalists.

“We can admit to a certain extent that we are having a difficult time with the media killings but of course we have to dispute anybody who says that we are not doing anything because we are doing something about it,” De Lima told reporters.

De Lima said it was for this reason that the murder of public service broadcaster Marlina “Len” Flores-Sumera was immediately referred for investigation to the justice department’s task force on extra-legal and media killings headed by Justice Undersecretary Francisco Baraan III.

In a statement on Friday, the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) criticized what it described as the failure of President Benigno Aquino III to pursue justice for slain journalists.

CPJ noted that the killing of Sumera, 45, happened on the sixth anniversary of the murder of journalist Marlene Esperat, who was shot in front of her children inside their home in Sultan Kudarat on March 24, 2005.

“Six years to the day after Marlene Garcia-Esperat was shot and killed, Maria Len Flores Sumera’s death serves as a tragic reminder that Philippine journalists are still at risk, and that President Benigno Aquino is failing to push for justice for their slain colleagues,” Bob Dietz, CPJ Asia program coordinator, said in a press statement.

“Manila police must immediately respond to this murder and investigate whether Sumera was killed for her work. But beyond that, it is Aquino’s responsibility to reverse the entrenched climate of impunity which allows these murders to continue,” Dietz said.

The Philippines is third on CPJ's impunity index in 2010, “making it one of the worst nations in the world in combating deadly anti-press violence.” (CPJ’s statement explained that its index calculates unsolved journalist murders as a percentage of a country's population.)

De Lima said that compared to the extra-legal murders of activists or leftist supporters, it was more difficult to solve media killings because of the various motives that could range from political to personal or work-related.

She noted that motives for several media killings turned out to be personal.

“But whatever is the motive, it's still killing. And when you target a media personality, that is really bad for any society — that is killing the messenger,” De Lima said.

Group urges probe of torture caught on video 

By Leila B. Salaverria; Philippine Daily InquirerFirst Posted 17:31:00 03/19/2011

The authorities should investigate the acts of torture carried out by men clad in battle fatigues on a group of half-naked men, as shown in a video uploaded on the video-sharing site YouTube, the militant group Bagong Alyansang Makabayan said Saturday.

A group calling itself ISNAYP claims to have posted the video, and alleges that the men doing the whipping and hitting were members of the Philippine Army's 9th Infantry Division.

In the introduction to the video, ISNAYP claimed that the footage showed part of the month-long training of Army recruits in the Bicol Region.

A group of dismayed soldiers of the division, which is based in Pili, Camarines Sur, supposedly sent the video to the National Democratic Front in Bicol to protest the abuse committed against the recruits. The soldiers said that the acts were supposed to prepare the recruits in the event they captured by the New People's Army.

But the introduction also tried to present a sympathetic picture of the NPA, claiming that the communist rebels treated their prisoners humanely and adhered to international humanitarian law.

The video showed a group of men in olive-green shirts and pants and black boots whipping and hitting several men in succession.

The men that were being hit were clad only in dark shorts and made to kneel in front of a man seated on a plastic chair. They were being hit while apparently being asked questions.

One of the half-naked men kept on screaming, “Hindi ko alam (I don't know),” as he doubled over in pain each time his back was slapped with whips and a belt. One of the fatigue-clad men clamped the man's head between his feet.

Another man was repeatedly hit with a belt as he rolled in the mud.

Men could be heard laughing in the video. In the background other half-naked men could be seen lying face-down on the ground.

Bayan said the events shown in the video should be investigated, and added that it cast doubt on the professionalism of the AFP.

“Are these training methods actually sanctioned by the AFP? Is this how recruits are prepared by the institution, through inhumane and degrading treatment? Would not these methods also encourage soldiers to commit torture which is a serious human rights violation?” Bayan secretary general Renato Reyes, Jr. said in a statement.

He said that soldiers should come forward to expose any abhorrent practices in the military.

The men in the video should also be identified and made to explain their actions, he said.

“The AFP should be teaching human rights and not torture methods,” he said.

Military man accused of abducting militant relieved 

By Katherine Evangelista; INQUIRER.net03/22/2011

Major Harry Baliaga, primary suspect behind the abduction of militant leader Jonas Burgos, has been removed from his position and reassigned to the Philippine Army headquarters while he is facing investigation by the Commission on Human Rights, a military spokesman said Tuesday.

In an interview, Armed Forces of the Philippines spokesman Brigadier General Jose Mabanta said that the order came from Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Eduardo Oban. Baliaga, who was formerly assigned to the Special Forces Detached Service, will temporarily stay at the holding center at the Philippine Army headquarters in Fort Bonifacio.

"He is relieved of all his duties so that he will be able to concentrate on the cases that may be filed against him in connection with the CHR recommendation," Mabanta said.

He added that the military was seriously viewing this case and that the Armed Forces' Technical Working Group would also determine whether other military commanders are also liable for the abduction of Burgos.

"We'll leave no stones unturned," Mabanta said.

Burgos has been missing since April 2007 after being abducted at a mall in Quezon City. The victim's family accused the military of abducting Burgos after the get-away vehicle allegedly used for the kidnapping was found inside the compound of the 56th Infantry Battalion in Bulacan.

Rights Delegation Brings Issue of Continuing Killings, Other Violations to UN

By RONALYN V. OLEA ; Bulatlat.com

MANILA – A delegation of human rights advocates would fly all the way to Geneva, Switzerland to bring to the attention of the United Nations the continuing extrajudicial killings and other forms of human rights abuses under the new administration.

The UN Human Rights Council (UNHRC) will hold its 16th session this month. Created in March 2006, the UNHRC is an inter-governmental body within the UN system made up of 47 states responsible for strengthening the promotion and protection of human rights around the globe.

The delegation called as Ecumenical Voice for Peace and Human Rights in the Philippines (Ecumenical Voice) would be in Geneva from March 5 to 15. It is composed of Bishop Felixberto Calang of the Philippine Independent Church (Iglesia Filipina Independiente or IFI) and the Initiatives for Peace in Mindanao; Marie Hilao-Enriquez of Karapatan, Cristina Palabay of Tanggol Bayi (Defend Women-Association of Women Human Rights Defenders); Rey Cortez of the National Union of People’s Lawyers (NUPL); Girlie Padilla of the Ecumenical Movement for Justice and Peace (EMJP); and Rhonda Ramiro of the San Francisco Committee on Human Rights in the Philippines.

“The continuing violations of the rights of the Filipino people by state agents are a reason for us to be alarmed,” Enriquez, Karapatan chairwoman, said.

The group has documented 40 victims of extrajudicial killings since Aquino took office at a rate of one victim of extrajudicial killing per week. Just last week, three activists were gunned down in Albay and Davao del Sur.

Enriquez said they will particularly cite the killing of botanist Leonard Co and his companions. Witnesses said state agents were the ones who fired at Co and two others inside the Energy Development Corporation (EDC) complex in Kananga, Leyte on Nov. 15, 2010.

“Impunity still prevails in the country,” Enriquez said.

The human rights leader noted that many of the recommendations of former UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial killings Prof. Philip Alston http://bulatlat.com/main/tag/philip-alston/ have not been implemented.

Alston visited the country in February 2007 to investigate the spate of killings. In his report, Alston linked the extrajudicial killings to the counterinsurgency program of then Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo administration. He recommended the scrapping of the counterinsurgency program Oplan Bantay Laya, among others.

With the continuing human rights violations, Karapatan made no difference between Arroyo’s Oplan Bantay Laya and President Benigno S. Aquino III’s new internal security plan dubbed as Oplan Bayanihan.

One of the Morong 43 , Dr. Merry Mia Clamor also joined the delegation to file a complaint to the UN Special Rapporteur on torture. Clamor will also give an oral intervention about her ordeal before the UN Rights Council.

The Morong 43 are the 43 health workers arrested on Feb. 6, 2010 in Morong, Rizal. They were charged with illegal possession of firearms and explosives and were branded as members of the New People’s Army. Majority has been released in December last year. Two are still detained at Camp Bagong Diwa and five are held in a military camp in Capinpin, Rizal.

Enriquez said they will also bring the cases of threats and attacks against human rights defenders, the issues of internally displaced persons and victims of arbitrary detention to the Council.

The Ecumenical Voice’s visit to Geneva is also in preparation to the Universal Periodic Review of the Philippines (UPR) 2012. All UN member states are subjected to UPR once every four years. Each state must declare what actions they have taken to improve the human rights situation in their respective countries and to fulfill their human rights obligations.