Arroyo Regime’s Abuses Qualify as ‘Crimes Against Humanity’: Hague Tribunal
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Amnesty International Report 2007: Facts and Figures
6. Extra-judicial killings, torture and forced disappearances
An impressive amount of cases of extra-judicial killings, disappearances and torture, often in combination with each other, have been documented before the tribunal by oral testimonies by survivors, witnesses and experts who provided also the opportunity of more in depth questioning by the jury. Further for each of the cases (listed in Annex 2) a very detailed account, including copies of original documents and certificates has been available for the jury. The synoptic presentation of the 839 cases of extra-judicial killings in a table, allows on one side the detailed view of the increasing number of cases from the 98 in 2001 to the 213 in 2006, on the other side makes visible the composition of this ‘population’ which is truly and fully representative of the targeted killing strategy: persons associated with ‘ left’ organisations, church people, community leaders, peasants, journalists, lawyers, people of the so-called party list organisations (parliamentary opposition), human rights activists or simply witnesses of extra-judicial killings.
Sector 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 Jan-March 2007 Total
Church 1 0 0 2 7 9 0 19
Peasants 25 63 61 43 94 101 13 400
Fisherfolks 10 3 0 0 0 2 0 15
Human Rights 3 5 1 2 4 3 0 18
Children (below 18) 8 7 18 6 4 7 0 50
National Minority 36 18 19 11 36 7 0 125
Urban Poor 9 6 5 2 7 6 1 36
Workers 2 5 3 10 10 25 0 55
Youth & Students 1 3 6 2 2 10 1 22
Women 0 1 1 0 0 2 0 4
Public Servant 0 1 2 0 5 7 1 16
Teachers 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 2
Unidentified 3 2 19 2 21 35 0 77
TOTAL 98 115 125 80 190 213 17 839
It also appears that most of the killings have taken place in those regions of the country that are identified as ‘priority areas’ in the Oplan Bantay Laya (the counter insurgency program dating from 2002, adopted in the framework of the anti-terrorism campaign after 9/11). (See above,par.5)
Victims are usually, prior to the attacks, subject to a vilification campaign by the military or anti-communist vigilante groups. They are said to be members of the CPP/NPA (Communist Party of the Philippines/ New Peoples Army) or its ‘front organizations’, labeled as ‘terrorists’. In fact the victims are often poor peasants campaigning for some more loans, clergymen who have criticized the government for its alleged inhuman politics, human rights workers and others, peacefully struggling for better conditions for the ordinary people, who have nothing to do with political violence. See for instance the massacre at Hacienda Luisita on November 6, 2006, referred to in paragraph 4.
Examples of the targeting of non-violent clergymen are the killing of bishop Alberto Ramento, known as the bishop of poor peasants and workers and as such a critic of the Arroyo regime, on October 3, 2006, of pastor Andy Pawican on May 21, 2006 (referred to before) and of pastor Isaias Santa Rosa on August 3, 2006 (also referred to before).
Other examples of the targeting of non-violent social movements are the abduction and killing of human rights workers Eddie Gumanoy and Eden Marcellana on April 21, 2003, referred to before, the attacks on party list organization Bayan Muna officially represented in the legislature, of which party 129 members have been killed since 2001. . Also the killing of 15 activist lawyers and 10 judges since 2001, as well of 26 journalists and other media personnel is to be qualified as an attack on non-violent critics of the government or of social actors such as multinationals.
The overall picture made available to the jury on Charge 1 is in fact perfectly fitting the broader scenario outlined in the discussion of the Oplan Bantay Laya (see section*). Having failed in its earlier strategies to defeat the CPP and the NPA the government is now concentrating its oppression on the political more than the military component of the left opposition: the aim of ‘neutralizing’ legal institutions and organisations become an excuse for the killings of peaceful persons. The witness to the tribunal, retired captain Danilo Vizmanos is explicit in his analysis of Oplan Bantay Laya being not designed to engage New People’s Army into armed conflict with the Philippine army, but to attack, torture and kill defenseless non-combatants, poor peasants and social activists.
Women leaders and especially leader of Gabriela Party have been stripped naked and molested by military personnel. Sexual violence is used both as form of torture and to create fear among women.
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