142 extra-judicial killings under Noy, says HR group

Source: The Daily Tribune

INT’L RIGHTS BODY TO ASSESS RP

A record figure that is not expected to form part of President Aquino’s State of the Nation Address (Sona) is the 142 extra-judicial killings recorded from the start of Aquino’s presidency which a human rights group said was aside from several cases of abuses during the three years Aquino is in power.

From July 2010, or the start of Aquino’s presidency, to April 30, 2013, Karapatan documented 142 victims of extra-judicial killing, 164 cases of frustrated killing, 16 victims of enforced disappearance, 293 persons arrested and detained, 16 children with ages ranging from four to 15 killed during encounters that mainly involved paramilitary groups under the command of Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) units.

The group said it is reiterating its call for the dismantling of all paramilitary groups in the country and the revocation of Executive Order 546.

“The inordinate delay in the delivery of justice for the victims of the Ampatuan massacre and the recent accounts of the backhoe driver exemplify how impunity runs through from one administration to the next; in this case from the Arroyo to the Aquino regime. Despite the people’s outrage and after more than three years after the massacre, one of the key government policies, Executive Order 546, has yet to be revoked by Aquino,” Karapatan secretary general Cristina Palabay said.

According to Palabay, EO 546 spurred the use of paramilitary groups and private armies by political warlords such as the Ampatuans.

Former Pres. Gloria Arroyo’s EO 546 allowed local officials to employ members of the Citizen Armed Force Geographical Units (CAFGU) and Civilian Volunteer Organizations (CVO) to purportedly address insurgency in the country.

The group said Aquino, instead of revoking the order, expanded and strengthened the EO by creating the Special CAFGU Auxiliary Action (SCAA) to protect operations of mining firms.

“EO 546 legitimized the use of civilian military groups as force multipliers to supposedly combat rebel groups, giving free reign to paramilitary groups and the Armed Forces of the Philippines to commit heinous crimes such as the Ampatuan massacre and protect the interests of big foreign corporations such as transnational mining companies and agro-business plantations,” Palabay said.

Palabay noted “the notoriety of such paramilitary groups continue under the Aquino administration as the AFP employs them for its counter-insurgency program, Oplan Bayanihan, in their operations in the communities.”

She said such paramilitary groups were involved in many cases of extrajudicial killings, torture and enforced disappearances in communities where there are opposition to big businesses that will dislocate the local peasants and indigenous peoples.

The continued existence of paramilitary groups in the Philippines had been a major concern among member countries of the United Nations.

“During the 2012 UN Universal Periodic Review, where the rights record of the Philippine government was reviewed, several foreign missions called for the immediate dismantling of paramilitary groups such as the CAFGU, SCAA, CVO and the repeal of EO 546,” it said.

Palabay said an International Conference for Human Rights and Peace in the Philippines (ICHRPP) scheduled on July 19 to 21 will have the human rights record of the Aquino government scrutinized by the international community as 200 rights defenders and peace advocates from all over the globe gather in the Philippines.

“When he delivers his fourth SONA, we expect Aquino to once again produce sleight-of-hand figures and other forms of deception to prettify his human rights record. But the Filipino people and those in the international community know better. We cannot be deceived. We will march against the increasing poverty, oppression, exploitation and repression under the Aquino regime,” Palabay said.

Palabay also cited the appointment of Brig. Gen. Aurelio Baladad as commanding general of 3rd Infantry Division of the Philippine Army as an “exemplary display of impunity under the Aquino government,”
Baladad is among the military and police officers currently facing civil and criminal charges of torture and illegal detention of 43 health workers known as the Morong 43.

The 43 health workers were illegally arrested in February 2010. They were handcuffed and blindfolded for two days.

Dr. Alex Montes said he was electrocuted while blindfolded. He could not walk for several minutes after that.
The group also underwent psychological torture during interrogation that happened during night time.

They were under extreme fear during their captivity because some of them were taken out of detention cells during the night, not knowing where they will be taken to. All these happened for several weeks while they were under military custody.

“This is the kind of impunity under the Aquino regime: torturers are promoted and rewarded with plum posts, placing them in positions where they systematically commit more rights violations,” Palabay said.
“Baladad’s assignment to the 3rd IDPA indicates the heightening of terror against the people through Oplan Bayanihan,” Palabay said.

Negros, which is part of Western Visayas, is among the first level priority of the military in the implementation of Oplan Bayanihan.

Karapatan’s documentation showed nine out of 142 cases of extrajudicial killings under Aquino’s Oplan Bayanihan happened in Western Visayas;while four of the 16 incidents of enforced disappearances were from Negros.

“Noynoy Aquino is placing Gloria Arroyo’s henchmen and known human rights violators such as Baladad and now ISAFP Chief Gen. Eduardo Año as his first line of defense against the people’s growing discontent,” Palabay said.

A year ago, Karapatan filed an opposition to the promotion of Baladad as Brigadier General. Since then, he had been assigned as commanding officer of the 9th Infantry Division PA in Bicol Region, also a priority area of Oplan Bayanihan, and as Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations (J3) of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.
“Thus, with this appointment and promotion of rights violators, it is expected that more rights violations under the Aquino government are about to happen,” Palabay said.

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