HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH
In Cordillera, Right
to Life is the Most Violated Right
Of all human rights, it
is the right to life which is most violated in the Cordillera region. This
is what is shown by figures from the Cordillera Human Rights Alliance (CHRA).
BY ARTHUR L. ALLAD-IW
Northern Dispatch
Posted by Bulatlat
BAGUIO CITY – Of all
human rights, it is the right to life which is most violated in the
Cordillera region. This is what is shown by figures from the Cordillera
Human Rights Alliance (CHRA).
The CHRA has
documented 26 cases of extrajudicial killings in the Cordillera since last
January. The group’s statistics on collective rights violations showed
that there were more or less 1,500 workers and families assaulted in the
picket lines and more or less 100 individuals who were victims of aerial
bombings during the same period.
Lawyer Reynaldo A.
Cortes, CHRA chairman, said that these violations – both of individual and
collective rights – are still continuing and should serve to strengthen
their advocacy.
Citing results of
fact-finding missions CHRA sponsored mostly this year, Cortes said that
these violations are a reality in the remote villages.
“Like an alleged
victim of extrajudicial killing by alleged AFP (Armed Forces of the
Philippines) members in Abra (whose remains) needed to be exhumed to
determine the cause of his death,” Cortes told at least 150 rights
advocates gathered here on Dec. 8 for the 3rd CHRA congress at the ECP
Mission Hall of the Episcopal Diocese of North Central Philippines (EDNCP)
Compound, Magsaysay, in this city.
Continuous
killings
The 26 political
killings this year include those of prominent personalities like Malbong
tribal leader Rafael Markus Bangit who was gunned down by hooded
assailants on June 8, 2006 in Isabela; and Alyce Omengan-Claver who was
assassinated on July 31, 2006 in Tabuk, Kalinga.
The attack on Alyce
also caused the serious injury of her husband Dr. Constancio Claver and
their young daughter, added the Cortes report.
The CHRA report cited
the following political assassinations: Albert Terredaño, an employee of
the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) in Abra murdered on Nov. 29, 2005;
Pepe Manegdeg, a coordinator of the Rural Missionaries of the Philippines
(RMP) murdered Nov. 28 last year; Romeo Sanchez, regional coordinator of
Bayan Muna- Ilocos Region murdered in Baguio City March 9 last year.
Karapatan (Alliance
for the Advancement of People’s Rights) has documented 797 killings since
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo took over the presidency.
The CHRA figures show
that 96 of the victims of these killings were indigenous people. Of these,
33 were from the Cordillera.
“None of these cases
has been solved to this day,” the CHRA lamented in a statement. “No
perpetrator has been punished.”
The CHRA was
responsible for filing complaints on political killings together with
Karapatan, the Counsels for the Defense of Liberties (CODAL) and other
non-government before the different offices of the United Nations (UN) –
including those of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for
Human Rights Defenders, Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous
Peoples, and Special Rapporteur on Extra-judicial Killings and Summary
Executions.
Government behind
killings?
Citing observations
from credible human rights watchdogs, CHRA stated that there is a pattern
of politically-motivated killings as illustrated by similar affiliations
of the victims; surveillance and death threats immediately preceding the
killings; and "communist" labeling from the Armed Forces of the
Philippines (AFP), Philippine National Police (PNP), and the Department of
Justice (DoJ).
"These international
investigative teams were convinced that government security forces are
behind the killings and that a culture of impunity pervades, exacerbated
by apparent lack of pursuit operations, inefficient investigation,
prosecution and punishment of the perpetrators and masterminds," the CHRA
observed. "Above all, these groups have noted the lack of political will
from the President to strongly condemn and get to the bottom of the
killings."
The CHRA also said
that death squads of the AFP or the PNP have executed orders to neutralize
leaders and members of progressive people's organizations critical against
the government.
In a separate
statement, CHRA observed that the extrajudicial killings took while Arroyo
was aggressively pushing for charter change “to continue her hold of the
presidency.” As the violations seem to be heightened with her rule, the
CHRA declared it will consolidate its ranks and campaign to resist
political persecution. Northern Dispatch / Posted by Bulatlat
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