Family illegally detained
Tanggol-Karapatan exposed on July 26 the AFP fascist troops' indiscriminate violation of the human rights of civilians, especially those of children, in the name of the "anti-terrorist war."
It referred in particular to the illegal arrest and detention of a family of charcoal makers in the mountainous barrio of Mabacao, Maragondon, Cavite.
It was on July 13 when combined elements of the Philippine Air Force (PAF) and PNP rained bullets on a hut next to the house of Isidro Bartolome, a charcoal maker. In this hut were 12 members of the New People's Army (NPA).
The fighting between the NPA and the military lasted for an hour. When the NPA retreated, the PAF troops illegally arrested and detained the Bartolome couple, Isidro and Gemma, and their children, Rico, Gemmalyn and Jinggoy. Gemmalyn is four years old, and Jinggoy, two years old.
Isidro and his son Rico were charged with rebellion. Although Rico was wounded, he was not brought immediately to a hospital. Instead, he was brought to Villamor Air Base where he was detained together with his father. Rico was not provided any medical attention except for the initial pain killers and antibiotics given to him. Neither has he been scheduled for an operation to extract the bullets from his body.
Gemma was likewise charged with a trumped-up case of rebellion and detained for almost a month with her two small children at the Philippine Air Force Base in Nasugbu, Batangas.
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