This story
was taken from Bulatlat, the Philippines's alternative weekly
newsmagazine (www.bulatlat.com, www.bulatlat.net, www.bulatlat.org).
Vol. V, No. 8, April 3-9, 2005
HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH
BULATLAT EXCLUSIVE: The
mainstream media reported 27 prisoners died last March 15 when the siege at Camp
Bagong Diwa in Bicutan ended. Prior to the assault, Philippine National Police
(PNP) Director General Arturo Lomibao estimated that casualties may reach 50,
which now gives an impression that the police did a good job in minimizing the
number. Bulatlat, however, managed to secure the testimonies of some
inmates who had a different story to tell, a story that reflects religious
bigotry and disregard for human rights. The inmates described the incident as a
“massacre.” BY
NINGNING STA. CRUZ (Editor’s
Note: The Arabic words in italics are used to identify sources whose real names
are withheld for security reasons. Sadaqat means truth; Adil, justice; Jaan,
life; Talat, prayer; Dilawar, brave; Fazil, victory; and Abyaz, innocent.)
Sadaqat
thought he would die when the Philippine
National Police (PNP) Special Action Force (SAF) attacked the Special Intensive
Care Area (SICA) building at Camp Bagong Diwa in Bicutan (15 kms from Manila) in
the morning of March 15.
According to PNP Director General Arturo Lumibao,
the assault was a consensus of the Crisis Management Team headed by Department
of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Angelo Reyes. The team was
formed to stop an alleged jailbreak attempt by suspected members of the Abu
Sayyaf Group (ASG).
As of this writing, the mainstream media have
only reported the side of the PNP and the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology
(BJMP). Fortunately, Sadaqat, along with other inmates, survived to tell
their story about what happened that fateful morning which they called a
“massacre.”
Inmates’ version
Their wounds and scars may be gradually healing
but the inmates’ memory of what happened last March 15 at the SICA building
remains.
At around 7 a.m last March 14, six jail breakers
seized from the guards the latter’s guns during a headcount. In the ensuing
exchange of gunfire, three jail guards and two jail breakers died.
Although the escape was planned by the group of
Alhamser Manatad Limbong, also known as Commander Kosovo, Sadaqat said
the jail breakers told them they did not intend to involve other inmates in
their attempt. But because they were ill-equipped, they were forced to do so.
Other inmates, however, locked themselves in their cells when Commander Kosovo’s
group started threatening and forcing them to join their group.
Sadaqat,
being on the first floor where the jail breakers stayed throughout the assault,
told Bulatlat there were only six jail breakers. Contrary to the reports
and photographs that they possessed long firearms, he said each was armed with
only a .45 caliber pistol. They included Commander Kosovo, Muhaizer Tilao a.k.a.
“Abu Iman,” and Hasbie Daie a.k.a “Abu Muslim/Ka Lando.”
However, media reports said that 27 inmates
died. This means that all but six were innocent civilians, according to him.
Kosovo’s group, composed of not more than 10
detainees, asked to talk to Muslim-converted actor Robin Padilla, Autonomous
Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) Gov. Parouk Hussin and Anak Minadanao
Party-list Rep. Mujiv Hataman. The last two were able to talk to them while
Padilla was in Australia at that time.
The government’s Crisis Management Team was
later formed comprising of Hussin, Hataman, Reyes, National Capital Region
Police Office (NCRPO) Chief Avelino Razon Jr., Taguig Rep. Rene Cayetano and
Taguig Mayor Freddie Tinga.
While on same floor with the jail breakers,
Sadaqat heard negotiations over the phone between jail breaker Ka Lando and
a member of the team. He said Ka Lando demanded media coverage, a speedy trial
and release of suspected ASG members, an investigation of human rights
violations among detainees and the observance of the inmates’ rights even after
the crisis and an assurance that they will not be bodily harmed. In return, the
jail breakers agreed to surrender at 6 p.m. The agreement was put in writing.
Reyes initially refused to sign but relented on the condition that the group
would surrender their arms.
Sadaqat
said the surrender did not happen because the
Muslims had to pray by 6 p.m.
The detainees were not given food after the prayer. The new deadline was set at
9 p.m which was later extended to 12 midnight.
At 9:15 a.m. the next day, March 15, Reyes gave
a 15-minute extension of deadline. At exactly 9:30 a.m.,
the assault started. Sadaqat said that at that time, Kosovo was talking
to somebody over the phone.
A bazooka fire broke the silence, said Adil,
another inmate. It was followed by explosive teargas and constant firing by SAF
elements who immediately killed Commander Kosovo, recounted Jaan. The
64-man assault team immediately penetrated the building. Other inmates went
upstairs of the four-floor SICA building, thinking they would be safe there. To
their shock, Dilawar said SAF elements fired indiscriminately on the
second floor even if they shouted “Sibilyan kami! (We are civilians!).”
Though SAF elements shouted, “Lahat ng
sibilyan, lumabas na! (All civilians, come out!)” at the detainees, Jaan
said they still fired continuously. They were then asked to place their
hands behind their heads while lying facedown. In this position, Dilawar
saw inmates Ahmad Arawangsa and Badran Abdulhamid already dead. Adil, on
the other hand, noticed that inmate Abdulrasid Lim was also dead.
“Massacre”
Of those who reportedly died, insiders claimed
that many of them were still alive even after the clearing operations.
Abyaz
saw a SAF element commanding Adil to lift
inmate Galib Andang, a.k.a Commander Robot, from his wheel chair. But the SAF
member later told Adil to get out of Commander Robot’s cell when the
latter claimed that he was not with Commander Kosovo’s group since he was
already paralyzed. The detainees then heard gunfire from Commander Robot’s cell
after Adil left him. Commander Robot died of gunshots on his chest.
Jaan belied the report that Commander Robot’s body was planted with
explosives.
Inmate Ibrahim Joe was still alive during the
clearing. Sadaqat said SAF members asked Joe to go back to his cell. They
knew the following gunfire meant his death, he said.
Commander Global had the same fate. Several
detainees saw him on the rooftop where detainees were gathered after the
assault. Jaan said he was also in his underwear just like the other
survivors. A SAF member asked who among the detainees was Commander Global. The
latter was then taken downstairs after a BJMP guard identified him. Jaan
said that other inmates saw Commander Global shot even before he reached the
second floor.
Jaan
also said that he saw Khair Abdulgaffar Muktar, Jalal Ampaso, Mobasain Maolo,
Basoan Pael and another Muslim inmate with a drug-related case still alive. They
were shot while taking refuge on the second floor because they were accused of
being with Kosovo’s group. Fazil said Maolo, who asked the SAF for the
treatment of his wounds, and Muktar, who became dizzy due to teargas, were both
asked to go downstairs. Fazil later learned the two were among the
casualties. Sadaqat said that the inmate with a drug-related case was
asked by a SAF member if he is a Muslim. After saying yes, the SAF member shot
him while saying, “Pare-pareho lang kayo! (You are all the same!).”
Even Hadji Ahmad Upao, the 75-year old bedridden
detainee who was suffering from Alzheimer's disease, survived the assault.
Later, however, Jaan said Upao was shot while being transferred by
inmates to the second floor. Upao, along with other minors, had been supposedly
released in 2001 for humanitarian reasons as part of the peace negotiations
between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines (GRP) and the National
Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP).
Meanwhile, Talat saw Jolo Patarasa’s
badly wounded stomach so he helped him get out of the cell. But he did not
manage to save Patarasa after a SAF member shot his foot.
Assault after the assault
Detainees clad only in underwear hurried
upstairs to secure themselves. Though some of them were already wounded, the
assault team still kicked them as they crawled upstairs.
At around 12 noon, all wounded government forces
were already treated and brought to the Camp’s infirmary and nearby hospitals.
Medical workers and volunteers on duty during the assault said no wounded
detainees have been hospitalized that day. The new warden, however, said they
brought the victims to the Rizal Memorial Center but the detainees’ relatives
complained they did not find them there. Sadaqat said that only two
wounded detainees, Marvin Uyag Hasim and Muktar Halul, were brought to the
hospital but this happened on the following day, March 16.
Instead, wounded detainees stayed under the heat
of the sun in the plaza – just in front of the female detainees’ cells -- for
more than three hours, wearing only their briefs. Other inmates’ hands,
especially of the six suspected escape plotters, were tied behind their backs
with tire wires. Sadaqat said the wounded inmates were given only two
Amoxicillin capsules. Their wounds were also treated with Betadine.
According to Talat, it was almost evening
when they were allowed to enter their cells.
But the six suspected escape plotters were first
beaten up by BJMP employees for almost half an hour, said Sadaqat. The
BJMP allegedly used their firearms to hit the six inmates. They were again
placed under the heat of the sun. They were also held in an isolation cell for
about three weeks. They were prohibited to accept visitors in the first week.
They were identified as Rajmar Jul, Munid Aza, Omar Abubakar, Alzen Jandul, Said
Massud and Ismael Bas.
Only suspected ASGs’ counsel Pura Calleja was
allowed to see the detainees. Later in the evening, Remedios Balbin, lawyer of
other suspected ASGs, was also allowed to see her clients. But representatives
from the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) were prohibited from conducting an
investigation. Agapito Laurora, Special Investigator I of the Complaints and
Investigations Division of the CHR, told Bulatlat the guards were even
laughing while telling them they could not enter.
Survived but not free
Adil
said they were allowed to drink but only from a rusting drum, as well as eat,
last March 16. They do not have electricity in Detention 1. They could hardly
sleep because they were 35 in a small cell. He also said that their guards seem
to be angry at them in answering their queries even if they asked courteously.
While mixed with other inmates in other
buildings, Muslim detainees also complained of disrespect to their culture and
religion. At 6:15 p.m., Muslims pray one
of the five obligatory prayers in a day. They also need to be dressed up not
showing their knees. However, they could not concentrate with their prayer while
other inmates were walking in front of them naked.
There was also a time when the headcount was
conducted at the same time with their prayer. Sadaqat said they have
heard a BJMP guard saying, “Huwag na kayong magdasal dito dahil ‘di na
uubra’yang dasal n’yo dito (Do not pray because your prayers are useless
here).”
As of end of March, bullets have not been
removed from surviving inmates Marvin Ramiso and Bimbas Abubakar.
Meanwhile, the new warden, Danilo Abelinde, has
imposed stricter rules. Suspected ASG members are now required to wear yellow
shirts before they could see their visitors. Visitors are also now subjected to
a strip search. They are also required to wait under the heat of the sun and may
only enter in groups of five. Non-government agencies, on the other hand, are
only allowed to visit on Mondays.
The visiting area for suspected ASGs – already
separated from the main visiting area – is now padlocked inside. If overcrowded,
the visitors now need to appeal to the guards to let them spend visiting hours
with the visited detainee outside the padlocked area. A visitor is also
restricted to see only one detainee, unlike in the past where one visitor was
allowed to visit three.
The events surrounding the assault made another
detainee to quip, “Hinostage na kami ng mga kasama namin, minasaker pa kami
ng gobyerno (We were hostaged by our fellow inmates; worse, we were
massacred by the government).”
Because of these, relatives of the slain
suspected ASG members and wounded detainees, and non-government organizations
Suara Bangsamoro Partylist, Karapatan (Alliance for the Advancement of People’s
Rights), and Moro-Christian People’s Alliance (MCPA)
have called for an independent
investigation of the alleged massacre. Bulatlat © 2004 Bulatlat
■
Alipato Publications Permission is granted to reprint or redistribute this article, provided its author/s and Bulatlat are properly credited and notified.
‘Cops Shot ASGs After
Assault’ – Bicutan Inmates
BulatlatHostaged and massacred