This story
was taken from Bulatlat, the Philippines's alternative weekly
newsmagazine (www.bulatlat.com, www.bulatlat.net, www.bulatlat.org).
Vol. VI, No. 6, March 12-18, 2006
HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH
Free the Sagada 11
An
international campaign for the immediate and unconditional release of the 11
punks illegally arrested, detained, and tortured in Buguias, Benguet is gaining
headway with the creation of the Free the Sagada 11 Solidarity Campaign.
BY
A.T. BENGWAYAN
An international campaign for the immediate and unconditional release of the 11
punks illegally arrested, detained, and tortured in Buguias, Benguet is gaining
headway with the creation of the Free the Sagada 11 Solidarity Campaign.
The group’s petition specifically calls on the Philippine government, the
police, the military and the justice department to issue a public apology to the
victims and their respective families, and for the termination of police
officers and soldiers involved in the illegal arrest, detention, and torture of
11 youth ages 15-25.
The 11 backpackers, who hail from different parts of the country, are still in
jail. They have been charged with robbery and homicide.
The Cordillera Human Rights Alliance (CHRA), local counterpart of national human
rights organization Karapatan (Alliance for the Advancement of People’s Rights),
identified the perpetrators as members of the 1604th Provincial
Mobile Group (PPMG) and 3rd Coy, Regional Mobile Group, Philippine
National Police (PNP); and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).
As of March 11, over 1,000 private individuals and organizations mostly from the
punk community and human rights advocates have signed the said petition. In the
Philippines, organizations such as
a-Manila.org (web),
Earth First! Philippines, Local Anarchist Network, Food Not Bombs, Project
Aperture, and Not for Sale are among the initial signatories.
The PNP insists that the victims, the youngest of which is a 15 year-old girl,
are members of the New People’s Army (NPA) responsible for the raid at an Army
detachment in Cabiten, Mankayan.
The victims had just come from a gig in Tarlac and decided to hitchhike to
Sagada, Mt. Province when PNP officers arrested them in Buguias. From there,
they were brought to Camp Molintas in Abatan, Buguias where they were subjected
to various forms of intense physical and mental torture.
“The actions done by
the Benguet Police are definitely wrong, however you look at it,” the Food Not
Bombs, a vegetarian anti-war group, stated in a petition, which may be accessed
at
http://www.petitiononline.com/sagada/petition.html. “These acts
deserve condemnation, if not punishment by recalling all those involved from
their duties. The Sagada 11 are innocent, adventure-loving trekkers.
“Most likely, due to
the macho, prejudiced and unintelligent nature of police officers and the
backwardness of the police institution itself, they have assumed that these
individuals are communists and armed rebels due to the fact that they look and
dress different, as punks tend to dress differently,” continued the group’s
petition.
The NPA Chadli Molintas Command
issued a public statement on Feb. 20, stating that the victims are tourists and
not members of the NPA. It also called on the PNP to respect the right to due
process.
In a separate statement dated
February 23, the Jennifer Maria Cariño Command (NPA-Benguet) said that the 11
youngsters were neither NPA members nor were part of the NPA unit that raided
the Cabiten detachment.
“PNP Benguet was awarded Best PNP
Provincial Office in 2005 for serving and protecting the interest of the Lepanto
Consolidated Mining Company, by harassing, intimidating, torturing, and killing
people, including Lepanto union members and their families, Efren Agsayang,
Joseph Coop, the people of Mankayan and neighbouring towns who are protesting
the havoc being wrecked by Lepanto's mining operations, anybody they suspect of
supporting the NPA, and now, even innocent punkistas,” the NPA-Benguet
statement . Nordis / Posted by Bulatlat © 2006 Bulatlat
■
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Int’l campaign kicks
off for punks tortured by police in Buguias
NORTHERN DISPATCH
Posted by Bulatlat