State Terror under theState Terror under the US-Arroyo RegimeUS-Arroyo Regime
KARAPATAN HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT FOR T
HE PERMANENT PEOPLE’S TRIBUNAL, 2007
A People Power President who rules by force, suppression, and deception…
194 have been forcibly abducted and remain missing till this day.
839839 victims, all unarmed civilians have been killed.
(January 21, 2001-March 21, 2007)
Human Rights VIolations
839 documented killings
444 not affiliated with any political organization
839 documented killings
395 from “Left” organizations, including:
129 from Bayan Muna 42 from Anakpawis 2 from Gabriela Women’s Party 222 sectoral and community
leaders
Massacre
3535 cases of massacre
839839 documented killings
193193 victims
The VictimsThe Victims
Sector 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006Jan-March 2007
Total
Church 1 0 0 2 7 9 0 19
Peasants 25 63 61 43 94 101 13 400
Fisherfolks 10 3 0 0 0 2 0 15
Human Rights 3 5 1 2 4 3 0 18
Children (below 18) 8 7 18 6 4 7 0 50
National Minority 36 18 19 11 36 7 0 125
Urban Poor 9 6 5 2 7 6 1 36
Workers 2 5 3 10 10 25 0 55
Youth & Students 1 3 6 2 2 10 1 22
Women 0 1 1 0 0 2 0 4
Public Servant 0 1 2 0 5 7 1 16
Teachers 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 2
Unidentified 3 2 19 2 21 35 0 77
TOTAL 98 115 125 80 190 213 17 839
All sectors including human rights and church
workers are targets
Even children are not spared!
50 children have died at the hands of suspected military death squads
This child survived the attack while one of his siblings and
his father Jericho Barbas, died.
Children victims of Kanangga Massacre in Leyte, 2002
REGION 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006Jan-March
2007
TOTAL
ARMM 23 12 7 3 4 0 0 49
BICOL 6 18 20 15 17 36 7 119
CAR 3 4 5 1 3 2 0 18
CARAGA 0 3 8 1 4 11 1 27
CL 15 0 9 11 53 54 1 142
CAGAYAN VALLEY
3 8 2 2 4 9 2 30
CENT. VIS 5 4 1 3 1 7 0 21
DVO 4 16 17 7 10 17 0 71
ILOCOS 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 1
EASTERN VIS
2 4 11 7 39 26 2 91
NCR 0 0 2 0 28 8 0 38
NMR 5 0 2 1 1 6 2 17
SCKSRGN 0 6 5 2 0 6 1 19
WEST VIS 0 2 0 0 8 4 0 14
ST 30 34 20 25 17 26 0 152
ZMBNG 2 4 16 3 0 1 1 26
TOTAL: 98 115 125 81 190 213 17 839
National in scope, with focus
on OBL priority areas
2001 – 30
2002 – 27
2003 – 26
2004 – 41
2005 – 202
2006 – 33
Total – 359
Alden Ambida,Bayan Muna provincial coordinator, Eastern SamarSurvivor, frustrated assassination April 9, 2005
there are also victims who
survived but will forever suffer from
serious physical injuries and/or
emotional and
psychological trauma…
Frustrated Extra-judicial Killings
Enforced Disappearances
2001 7
2002 10
2003 11
2004 31
2005 55
2006 79Jan-March
20071
TOTAL 194
Karen Cadapan, UP studentAbducted on June 26, 2006
Sherlyn Empeno, UP student
Abducted on June 26, 2006
194194 documented enforced disappearances
4141 belongs to organization identified with the “left”
Topographic Presentation of Killings and Topographic Presentation of Killings and Disappearances under Arroyo Regime from Disappearances under Arroyo Regime from January, 2001 to August, 2006January, 2001 to August, 2006
There is a patternThe victims are either leaders or active members of militant parties or organizations or ordinary folk in areas where the AFP conducts internal security operations.
There is a pattern
Prior to the attacks, victims are usually subject to a vilification campaign by the military or anti-communist vigilante groups. They are demonized as members of the CPP/NPA or its “front organizations”.
There is a pattern
Victims are usually subject to surveillance by the military, CAFGU or Barangay Intelligence Network (BIN) and told to stop their political activities “or else...” Many were warned that they were in the military’s “order of battle”.
There is a pattern
Killers are either uniformed men with no nametags, wearing bonnets or ski-masks and riding on motorcycles or vehicles with no plate numbers.
There is a pattern
Even the most brutal atrocities hardly elicit any decisive action or even condemnation from the government. All cases remain unsolved, with authorities seemingly helpless in or are not going after the perpetrators.
There is a pattern
The foregoing pattern results in a climate of IMPUNITY, with the killings and abductions getting more brazen by the day.
Why the widespread and systematic killings?
AFP’s Oplan Bantay Laya (2002-2006) Aims to destroy the CPP-NPA’s “political
infrastructure” (read: “front organizations”)
No distinction between armed rebels and unarmed civilians working within the legal framework
= ?
Why the widespread and systematic killings?
Bayan Muna’s triumphant entry into the parliamentary arena in 2001
Followed by Anakpawis and Gabriela in 2004
Despite liberal posturing, the Left’s phenomenal entry in the political mainstream is seen as a threat by the military and the ruling elite
Why the widespread and systematic killings?
AFP’s Oplan Bantay Laya (2002-2006)
The range of personalities subject to “target research” and “neutralization” are ranking officials of “front organizations” and even those who merely attend their activities
= ?
NUFC
KMUPISTONCOURAGEKMUKADAMAY
ANAKBAYAN CEGP LFS NUSP SCMP
PCPR KARAPATAN GOMBURZA (Priest) SAMIN (Nuns) AMRSP CBCP EMJP PIC UCCP
FLAG PLLP HEAD HEAL IBON Databank AGHAM NUJP PETA
ACT CONTEND
KMP
KMPCPA ROL, Lumad/ KAMP
SECTOR
PEASANT
LABOR
MIDDLEFORCES
NATIONALBOURGEOISIE
Agri-Workers (wood, mining, agro-industrial)
FisherfolksSmall FarmersIndigenous Peoples (IP)
Industrial LaborersTransport & Service SectorPublic Sector (gov’t employees)Agri-Workers (urban-rural)Community Labor (urban poor)
Youth & Students
Religious
Professionals (doctors, lawyers, bankers)
TeachersLocal PoliticiansSmall Entrepreneurs
PoliticiansBig BusinessBig Compradors
SUB-SECTORPPW
Framework
Support BldgSupport BldgSupport BldgBase & Army Building
Party BldgParty BldgParty BldgParty BldgGen Uprising
UF Building
UF Building
UF Building
UF BuildingBroad UFBroad UF
Broad UFBroad UFBroad UF
Neptali SANTOS @ ATONGCPP/NPA leader /Sec of KLG F2, Tarlac PCom, CLRC of the CPP/NPA
Danny Rosal LADERA @ AngelMember of Tarlac PCom, CLRC of te CPP/NPA and nephew of CPP Spokesperson Gregorio Rosal
Abelardo Rosal LADERABAYAN MUNA fielded Councilor of Tarlac City/nephew of CPP Spokesperson Gregorio Rosal
Angie LADERAPresident of IWS Labor Union, KMU member and wife of NPA member Danny LADERA
Marie PAMPOSATreasurer, BAYAN MUNA/ Deputy Sec WACOM, TARLAC PCOM,CLRC, CPP/NPA
Odeth BUNDALIANMember, White Area Committee (WACOM) of Tarlac PCom, CLRC of the CPP/NPA
Eliseo CADIANG Chairman, BAYAN-Tarlac
Francisco Pol VIUYAKMU member and Chairman Nagkakaisang Manggagawa ng Tarlac (NMT)
Juliet CORPUZ KMU member of the IWSWU/Chairperson-NMT
Elmon DAVID Chairman of KADAMAY
CPP/NPA AND SECTORAL FRONT PERSONALITIES
Taken from a PowerPoint presentation of the NOLCOM
TortureTorture
799799 documenteddocumented victims
In most areas, torture cases are difficult to document for the victim’s fear for reprisal
Angie Ipong, Gabriela member,
tortured and detained
Reign of terror in rural areas A state of martial rule
is imposed in areas with counter-insurgency operations
The military conducts illegal census, profiling and house to house searches
Members of progressive parties and organizations forced to “surrender” as NPAs
Attacks on communities
263, 598263, 598 victims of Forced Evacuation/Displacement
21, 50621, 506 victims of Hamletting/Zoning
14, 50214, 502 victims victims
of of Food and Economic Blockades
Attacks on communitiesFrom January 21, 2001 to December 31, 2006 GMA
committed 7,4507,450 documented cases of human rights violations victimizing
480, 099480, 099 individualsindividuals
‘Legal offensive’ vs. gov’t critics
IALAG formed under the office of the National Security Adviser to manufacture cases vs. gov’t critics, especially from the Left
Six members of Congress charged with rebellion, other members of the Opposition and the media swamped with harassment cases
Intensified trade union repression
The CTUHR recorded 89 incidents and documented 163 cases affecting 1,043 victims
Cases of intimidation and surveillance increased by 73%
Whitewashing gov’t role in HRVs Task Force Usig appears more intent in proving the NPA purge theory than in a genuine investigation of the cases
Increased US intervention Subic rape case highlights the
continuing presence of US troops in the country since 2002
The Arroyo regimes stepped up counter-insurgency operations is part of the US global war vs. ‘terrorism’
RP state security forces receive massive US military aid, equipment and advice
…and the world is taking notice.
UNHRCInter-Parliamentary Union
World Council of Churches
Philip Alston Statement“The AFP remains in a state of almost total denial (as its official response to the Melo Report amply demonstrates) of its need to respond effectively and authentically to the significant number of killings which have been convincingly attributed to them. The President needs to persuade the military that its reputation and effectiveness will be considerably enhanced, rather than undermined, by acknowledging the facts and taking genuine steps to investigate.”
Professor Philip Alston, Special Rapporteur of the
United Nations Human Rights Council on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary
executions.MANILA, PHILIPPINES 21 February
2007
Melo Commission Report
Melo
Mantaring
Bp. Pueblos
Teodoro-
Gonzales
The Melo report confirmed what KARAPATAN have pointed out in its previous pronouncements – that state security forces are responsible in the political killings.
US Senate Inquiry“… we take the problem of extrajudicial killings in the Philippines seriously, and are committed to helping our Philippine allies as they bring those responsible to justice,"
Eric John, US deputy assistant secretary of
state for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, told a US Senate sub-committee
probing political murders in the
Philippines Washington DC, 15
March 2007