NY-based watchdog urges bets to end unexplained killings

MANILA, Philippines - A New York-based human rights watchdog urged yesterday Philippine presidential candidates to provide a comprehensive action plan or platform to end unexplained killings, death squad killings and enforced disappearances since incumbent authorities have been slow to respond.

Human Rights Watch said presidential candidates should tell the public the concrete steps they will take to stop killings, prosecute perpetrators, and protect witnesses during their first 100 days in office.

Human Rights Watch said Philippine authorities have been slow to respond to numerous politically motivated killings and perpetrators of political violence have remained at large.

Some sectors have raise concern that perpetrators of unsolved killings are emboldened by the Arroyo administration’s failure to make them answer for their crimes.

“Presidential candidates should explain how they will put an end to the scourge of killings that has so discredited the Arroyo government,” said Elaine Pearson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “Bare condemnation of killings is not enough – the country needs to see a commitment to action.”

On April 6, unidentified men fatally stabbed and shot Mohamadisa Simpal Sangki, 51, in front of the Cotabato City Plaza on the island of Mindanao. Mohamadisa was the brother of Ampatuan town Mayor Zacaria Sangki and uncle of Ampatuan Vice Mayor Rasul Sangki. Both had testified against Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr., principal suspect in the November 2009 Maguindanao massacre, which left at least 57 dead, including relatives and supporters of a candidate for provincial governor and media personnel.

At least two people connected to the Sangki family had earlier been shot and killed.

In February, the brother of a suspect-turned-witness, police officer Rainier Ebus, was shot several times in Datu Piang in Maguindanao and seriously wounded.

These killings remain under investigation by the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) and local police. A CIDG spokesperson confirmed that the Sangki family and families of other witnesses are being harassed, most likely due to their court testimony.

Investigators are waiting for witnesses to come forward with signed statements, instead of proceeding with the investigation based on available information.

“The authorities need to demonstrate to witnesses that they can and will protect them and their families,” Pearson said. “Lacking signed statements is a sorry excuse for not investigating a criminal offense.”

Local candidates and party activists have also been the targets of attacks. On March 24, unidentified armed men abducted two Bantay party-list campaigners, Juliana Noquera and Ronald Miranda, in Davao City. Their bodies were found, separately, days later. Davao City Police told Human Rights Watch that the investigation is ongoing.

According to the CIDG, it has received 71 reports of violent incidents involving 86 victims, mostly elected officials and candidates, between Jan. 10, the official start of the election period, and April 14.

Thirty-eight people have been killed in that period.

CIDG public information officer Felix Vargas told Human Rights Watch that the suspects include guns for hire, political opponents, and members of paramilitary forces.

To date, only one suspect has been charged, eight suspects have been cleared, and investigations are continuing in the remainder of the cases. Vargas said that to date, no candidates for office have been investigated, as it is difficult to link them to the crime.

During the Arroyo administration, hundreds of political party members, human rights activists, journalists, and outspoken clergy have been killed or forcibly disappeared in apparently politically motivated attacks.

No real progress

Human Rights Watch investigations into the so-called Davao Death Squads have revealed the involvement over several years of local police officers and officials in killing alleged petty criminals, drug dealers, gang members, and street children in Davao City.

“Despite a reduction in killings since 2007, attributed to international and local pressure, the killings continue. While Arroyo has announced numerous initiatives to address those abuses, there has been no real progress in bringing those responsible to justice,” Pearson said.

“Reforms have largely been symbolic while genuine structural reforms recommended by United Nations bodies, human rights organizations, and even the government’s own Melo Commission have been ignored,” she added.

Of the hundreds of killings and enforced disappearances of leftist activists since 2001, Human Rights Watch knows of only six cases that have been successfully prosecuted, resulting in the conviction of 11 suspects. Although the military has been implicated in many of the crimes, none of those convicted were active military personnel at the time of the killing.