Real
Face of RPA-ABB Bared
The
Revolutionary Proletarian Party-Alex Boncayao Brigade (RPA-ABB) has come under
fire again for the arrest and torture of four New People’s Army (NPA) suspects
recently. Elements of the RPA-ABB arrested the four suspects in two separate
incidents Aug. 7-12 in Cadiz City and turned them over to the Army’s 11th
IB and then to the police.
By
Karl G. Ombion
Bulatlat.com/Cobra-Ans
BACOLOC
CITY - The RPA-ABB, a rebel group formed in the heat of factionalism in the
underground Left in the early 1990s, has been accused by both militant and human
rights groups as a “mercenary” and no better than a paramilitary unit of the
Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).
Held
by the RPA-ABB were Rodney Ilustrisimo, Richard Gayo, Rene Boy Santisteban and
Alexander Pelayo. Presently detained at the Cadiz City jail, the four are facing
charges of illegal possession of firearms.
In
a news conference in this city over the weekend, Ma. Rina Amacio, secretary
general of the alliance for the Advancement of Human Rights (or
Karapatan)-Negros and Felipe Gelle, Jr. of Bagong Alyansang Makabayan-Negros
accused both the RPA-ABB, military and police of committing human rights
violations and asked for the immediate release of the alleged NPA members.
The
two leaders also dared the government to implement the Comprehensive Agreement
on Human Rights and International Humanitarian Laws (CAHRIHL) which it signed
with the National Democratic Front (NDF) a few years ago.
Amacio
said that under international humanitarian law, once disarmed and unable to
engage in combat, all rebel suspects should be treated humanely.
The
Karapatan-Negros leader said the RPA-ABB members hit Pelayo with a rolled
rattan, punched, kicked and hit him with the end of an M-16 rifle. Not content
they fired an M-16 rifle, emptying several bullets near his ear, which affected
his hearing.
“Pelayo
continues to hear ringing sounds and he feels pain in his ear,” said Amacio.”
Santisteban, on the other hand, “was hit on the back of his head with a
first.”
All
four suspected guerrillas were handcuffed, blindfolded and threatened with death
while they were interrogated by their captors. They were never told that they
could avail of the services of legal counsel under the law, Amacio said.
In
the same press briefing, parents of two of the NPA suspects insisted their sons
were forced to admit they were NPA rebels on pain of being harmed by their
captors. All NPA suspects are sick and need immediate medical care, they also
said.
Gelle,
Jr. on the other hand minced no words in denouncing the RPA-ABB as paid
mercenaries of the government tasked to carry out “terror” in the
countryside.
As
an unsolicited advice, Gelle told RPA-ABB leader Carapali Luwalhati to stop
calling their group “revolutionary” as they now seem to be engaged in
anti-insurgency operations. Bulatlat.com / Cobra-Ans
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