HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH
Claver Ambushers' Faces Sketched as Outrage Mounts vs Killings
Various sectors in the
Cordillera continue to join the nationwide outcry against the series of
political killings, for which they hold government security forces
responsible.
By Northern Dispatch
Posted by Bulatlat
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BAGUIO CITY – Police
released on Wednesday cartographic sketches of two men who witnesses say
served as triggerman and lookout respectively in the July 31 ambush of the
Claver family in Tabuk, Kalinga.
Task Force Bulanao,
created by the Philippine National Police to probe the ambush that killed
Alyce Claver, wife of Doctor Chandu Claver who was himself seriously
wounded, included descriptions showing the lookout as “clean-cut and
good-looking” while the triggerman had a “stocky build.”
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SUSPECTS: Artist’s sketches of the
suspected gunman and look-out in the shooting of the Claver couple,
released by the PNP |
The Cordillera Human
Rights Alliance (CHRA) welcomed the development but reiterated that former
Kalinga Supt. Pedro Ramos had prior knowledge of the ambush. Ramos has
been relieved by PNP Director General Oscar Calderon and is reportedly now
detailed in Region 3,
“At the least, he
should be held culpable for gross negligence as the person-in-command in
Kalinga when the ambush happened,” said CHRA vice-chair Beverly Longid in
a press statement. “Accounts have it that minutes after the ambush, no
less than Supt. Ramos called off an ongoing hot pursuit against the
vehicles carrying the suspected assailants,” she added.
Longid said CHRA
hopes that similar task forces should also produce results to solve the
other 744 killings.
Widening outrage
vs killings
Various sectors in
the Cordillera continue to join the nationwide outcry against the series
of political killings, for which they hold government security forces
responsible.
More victims'
relatives, as well as personalities from various tribes and institutions
are issuing and signing statements that call on the government to muster
political will and sincerity to put an end to the said killings.
One such statement,
That the Mountains May Chant the Truth, was issued by concerned
Cordillera citizens on Aug. 5 in reaction to the Claver ambush. Circulated
during Alyce's wake in Tabuk and posted at several Internet sites
(including the Nordis website), it has gathered around 350 authenticated
signatures from individuals both the Philippines and abroad.
The statement
condemned the ambush of the Clavers and the earlier killing of Rafael
Markus Bangit, another Kalinga indigenous activist, earlier on June 8.
“The assault of unarmed civilians in public places is a manifestation of a
rotten social order. It can only be motivated by a desire to perpetuate
fear, subservience and maintain a state of repression,” the statement
said.
The printed statement
continues to gather more signatures, estimated at about 500 more, as it
circulates in the various schools, churches, and offices in the Cordillera
provinces, here in Baguio, in Metro Manila, and overseas.
In British Columbia,
Canada, families and friends of Alyce Claver and Markus Bangit will be
offering a special “Tribute to the Martyred Heroes of the Cordillera in
the Philippines” on Sunday, Sept. 3. The tribute dinner program, to be
held at Lady of Lourdes Parish, is organized by the local B.C. BIBAK and
the B.C. Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines.
Abductions
condemned
Meanwhile, the
University Council of the University of the Philippines-Baguio joined the
rest of the UP system in condemning the nationwide abductions and killings
of activists, journalists and other government critics.
In a statement sent
to NORDIS, the University Council cited the Bangit and Claver killings in
the Cordillera, and the June 26 abduction of UP Diliman students Sharelyn
Cadapan and Karen Empeno and their farmer companion allegedly by soldiers
of the Army's 7th Infantry
Division commanded by Maj. Gen. Jovito Palparan.
The statement,
released by Wilfredo Alangui, UP Baguio associate professor and a member
of the University Council, also demanded justice for all victims of
disappearances and summary executions under the administration of Pres.
Gloria Arroyo.
The Council serves as
UP Baguio's highest policy-making body, with representatives from the
administration, faculty and staff, and studentry. Arthur L. Allad-iw
/ Posted by Bulatlat
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