“Deep in their hearts, the families know these were perpetrated by the state security forces,” said the Reverend Antonio Ablon of the Iglesia Filipiniana Independiente who is also secretary-general of Karapatan in Northern Mindanao.
Delgado said that Alston expressed disappointment with the Philippine state forces for failing to protect witnesses and investigating the cases.
In the testimonies, survivors recalled a pattern where the victims were surveilled and interrogated by the military for weeks and months prior to being gunned down. “The only logical conclusion one can reached is that the military is behind these killings,” said Analyn Lumawag from Karapatan Caraga, which recorded 10 incidents in the region in which activists were killed in such a manner.
The relatives of Rahman Camili also presented his case. Camili, a Moro and member of partylist group Suara, was abducted last December by armed men in Tagum City. The relatives said that Camili had been the target of the military, which alleged that he was responsible for the Davao City bombings in 2003, a case already dismissed by the courts.
Delgado said that these 33 cases are sufficient to point out that the perpetrators are state agents, and enough to show that the government has failed in upholding human rights.
But Karapatan is optimistic that Alston will submit a substantial report to the United Nations Human Rights Council about the Arroyo government’s poor compliance with international laws on human rights. (Tyrone Velez/davaotoday.com)
[tags]davao today, mindanao, human rights, united nations, extrajudicial killings, philippines [/tags]
Extrajudicial Killings
