Extrajudicial Killings

UN Prober Raps Military, Gov’t for Killings

In a press statement distributed at a Manila press conference on Wednesday, Philip Alston, the special rapporteur of the United Nations Human Rights Council on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, outlined his findings during his 10-day investigation in the Philippines. Among his conclusions: evidence suggests that the military is behind most of the killings, the military is in a state of denial, an intensified counter-insurgency campaign (presumably Oplan Bantay Laya) is partly to blame for the increase in the atrocities, the Melo Commission and Task Force Usig are inadequate, and the military’s line that the killings are the result of purges within the communist movement “bears all the hallmarks of a fabrication and cannot be taken as evidence of anything other than disinformation.”

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Tales of Atrocities Confront UN Prober in Davao

By Tyrone A. Velez
davaotoday.com

DAVAO TODAY — They came from as far as Basilan, Agusan del Norte and Misamis Oriental. Some 30 people, who are families and survivors of extrajudicial killings and human-rights abuses presented their cases to the United Nations Commission on Human Rights special rapporteur on extrajudicial killings Philip Alston who arrived in the city last Sunday as part of his 10-day visit to the country to investigate atrocities.

All in all, 20 cases from the six regions in Mindanao involving 33 violations — such as killings, frustrated killings, forced disappearances and harassments — were presented to Alston. Of the 20 cases, 10 came with testimonies. The presentation of cases were facilitated by Karapatan, the human-rights group.

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UN to Probe Extrajudicial Killings in Davao

Leftist groups and the military are jockeying for position and the opportunity to be heard by the United Nations rapporteur on extrajudicial killings, who is scheduled to arrive today in Davao City.


(davaotoday.com photo by Barry Ohaylan)

By Germelina A. Lacorte
davaotoday.com

Related story: Victims? Families Say UN Rep Visit Won?t Stop Killings

DAVAO CITY — The human-rights group Karapatan has prepared at least 20 cases of political killings in Mindanao that it would present to Philip Alston, the United Nations Commission on Human Rights special rapporteur on extrajudicial killings who is scheduled to arrive here today.

The cases are among the grave human-rights abuses that if proven, Karapatan said, might blacklist the Philippines out of the group of nations that respect and uphold human rights.

The arrival here of Alston promises to be a battle of cases between progressive human rights groups on one hand and the government military and the police on the other as both sides try to wrest the opportunity to be heard by Alston.

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An Invitation to Murder

What started as an invitation to lunch by a persistent former colleague in the activist movement turned into an attempt on the life of the secretary-general for Southern Mindanao of the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas.

Related item: ‘Killing of Bayan Muna Misamis Oriental Leader Part of Arroyo Election Plan’


Marked for Death. Tatay Mancio narrates how he was nearly killed by assassins in Tagum City. (davaotoday.com photo by Barry Ohaylan)

By Grace S. Uddin
davaotoday.com

DAVAO CITY — It all started with a visit by a woman named Nene at around noon on Jan. 22. She invited Amancio Carmelo to lunch so they could catch up on old times.

Tatay Mancio, as Carmelo is known among friends and colleagues, told Nene that they were busy preparing for an anti-government demonstration in Tagum City that day in commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the Mendiola Massacre and that, given how busy they were preparing for the rally, going out for lunch was out of the question.

But the woman, whom Tatay Mancio recalled as having used the nickname Len in the past, was persistent. It?s been a while since they talked, she told him. Tatay Mancio had known Nene as a fellow organizer for a Lumad group in Montevista town, Davao del Norte, years back. He finally relented and agreed to meet with Nene after the rally.

Later that day, after having dinner with Nene at a restaurant, two men on a motorcycle tried to kill Tatay Mancio. The assassins missed, and the old man scampered away to safety. The woman disappeared. Tatay Mancio, in an interview with davaotoday.com, was convinced that the woman set him up.

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