Another Case of Torture and Murder 
Hounds AFP in Davao Oriental

In yet another case of what human-rights groups described as a “systemic violation of human rights” in Davao Oriental, four New People’s Army (NPA) guerrillas were killed by the military under conditions that violated, according to Karapatan, international humanitarian laws.

By DAISY C. GONZALES
Bulatlat.com

DAVAO CITY — A New People’s Army guerrilla was shot at close range while sleeping. Another was held at gunpoint but not long after was also shot dead. Two were wounded in a hail of bullets: one was already wounded and arrested but was beaten and tortured until he died; another was crying, in pain, for help but was answered with more bullets that caused her death.

The victims were all NPA members: three combatants and one non-combatant. They died during a strike operation by the military on June 4 in sitio Kauswagan, barangay San Isidro, Lupon town,  Davao Oriental. The military says it was a “legitimate encounter” between the 4^th Special Forces Company and the NPA.  The NPA’s Willy Zapanta Command-Front 18 Operations Command in Southern Mindanao, in a statement, called it a “barbaric raid.”

Initial reports the human rights group alliance Karapatan gathered from residents, as well as members of Almasid, a peasant organization based in Davao Oriental, point to a “possible” violation of international humanitarian laws and the Comprehensive Agreement on the Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Laws signed by the government and the National Democratic Front.

Ariel Casilao, secretary-general of Karapatan in Southern Mindanao, said a fact-finding mission is scheduled next week to investigate the incident, which was actually the latest of similar incidents in Davao Oriental and in other parts of Southern Mindanao.  These incidents, said human-rights advocates, indicate the military’s take-no-prisoners stance in its war against the NPA.

Encounter or raid?

That night on June 4, members of the 4^th Special Forces Company, which is under the 8^th Special Forces led by Maj. Nixon Fortes, attacked the posts where an NPA squad was spending the night. Killed were Nerio (Ka Nerio) Dioso, 33; Rodrigo (Ka Delfin) Ungayo, 42; Ruben (Ka Ricky) Tanoy, 34; and Ruby Jean Custodio, 21.  Custodio, according to the NPA statement, was a medical trainee and a non-combatant.

The NPA said in its statement that Dioso was asleep when he was shot. Ungayo, who was unarmed that time, was also shot, it said. He was in the stream nearby at that time looking for frogs for next day’s viand but went back to his post after he heard the firing. Ungayo, according to the statement, was accosted by one of the soldiers and was promptly shot dead. Tanoy, who was wounded near his armpit and on the foot, was arrested and was “mauled until he died.”

The statement read: “Instead of taking care of him, as required by international humanitarian law in the treatment of hors de combat and prisoners of war, the soldiers tortured and mauled Ka Ricky until he died. They twisted his arm until it broke; only the skin kept the arm from getting totally severed.”

Custodio, the medical trainee, was a non-combatant, the NPA said. She was wounded in the back and cried in pain but the soldiers “finished her off.”  Custodio’s body was exhumed from a shallow grave last June 9 for examination; the initial autopsy report will be released on Monday.

Initial testimonies to Karapatan by civilians who saw the dead bodies indicated that Tanoy’s head had been smashed and his leg was twisted.  

‘Pathological liars’

Amante Libertad, spokesman of the NPA’s Willy Zapanta Command, lambasted the military for its claim that the incident was an encounter. “This is yet another attempt to cover up a ruthless crime. This atrocity speaks of an Armed Forces that lies pathologically, of fascists who are running mad in the countryside and are systematically violating basic human rights and the rules of war,”  he said. 

But Lt. Col Agane Adriatico, chief of the military’s regional civil relations group, countered on June 13, that the NPA was lying. “They want to avenge their dead comrades by justifying that they were tortured and executed but the fact still remains that it was a legitimate encounter,” Adriatico told reporters in Davao City.

Other cases

In the Davao Oriental and Compostela Valley provinces, the 8^th Special Forces Battalion, to which the 4^th Special Forces Company belongs, has figured prominently in other similar human-rights cases filed by residents and human-rights groups before the Commission on Human Rights.  Human-rights advocates have described these cases as “systemic.”

This latest case in Davao Oriental is the fourth similar incident in the province since January this year. The cases involved alleged torture, massacre, food blockade and strafing in the area.  

According to data from Karapatan, incidents of murder, strafing, serious physical injury, looting, and denial of medical attention were reported two months ago in sitio Bisaya, Barangay Mahan-ub, also in Baganga, Davao Oriental.  In sitio Kasunugan in the same barangay, cases of looting, abductions, destruction of properties and warrantless arrest by soldiers were also reported.

In the Mahan-ub military operation, civilians William Masimid, 27, and his three-year-old son Wilmer Masimid were killed while civilian Elmo Dayaon, 45, was wounded. Romana Masimid’s house was also strafed. Seven residents were abducted; they were accused by the military of being NPA members.

Tortured and killed

Last January, two NPA guerrillas and one civilian were tortured and killed in sitio Bisay, barangay Binondo, also in Baganga. The following month, three guerrillas and a child were killed in a strafing incident in barangay Batawan, also in Baganga. A food blockade was later imposed in barangays Batawan and Binondo.

All these were perpetrated by the 30^th Special Forces Company, which is also under the 8^th SF Battalion, Karapatan said.

Last year, three children were killed and five civilians were wounded during the military operations conducted by the 27^th and the 30^th Special Forces Company in sitio Nursery in Barangay Binondo, also in Baganga. Two guerrillas died: one of them had already surrendered but was still killed.  In 2001, civilians were tortured and hostaged by soldiers in Spur Dos, Barangay Aliwagwag, Cateel, Davao Oriental.  

The military has routinely denied all the allegations, calling them “NPA propaganda.” It accused Karapatan and other groups of being NPA protectors.  Bulatlat.com

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