HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH
Free the Sagada 11
Int’l
campaign kicks off for punks tortured by police in Buguias
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
NORTHERN DISPATCH
Posted by Bulatlat
|
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.
|
FREE SAGADA 11: Punks rally to demand
release of Sagada backpackers accused of being NPA members
PHOTO
BY ACE ALEGRE |
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
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