Over 100 cases filed with the JMC
Over 100 cases of human rights violations have already been filed with the Joint Monitoring Committee (JMC) this July against the armed forces of the GRP. Almost 90% of the cases involve military and police forces. On the other hand, the JMC has yet to receive a single case filed against the NPA.
In a forum organized by Pilgrims for Peace and KARAPATAN, Atty. Edre Olalia, legal consultant of the NDFP Nominated Section of the JMC Joint Secretariat reported that the over 100 complaints involve 3,333 human rights violations with victims numbering over 100,000. The cases include illegal arrests, summary killings, massacres and abductions perpetrated by military and police elements.
More cases
Two separate cases of brutality and desecration of the remains of NPA fighters committed last month are set to be filed with the JMC by human rights groups.
Cavite: Three Red fighters were found dead on June 16, their bodies riddled with bullets after a firefight between an NPA unit and a combined force of military and police elements in Barangay Mabacao, Maragondon, Cavite. According to the Cavite Ecumenical Movement for Justice and Peace (CEMJP), the bodies of Ka Gary, Ka Ivan and Ka Nira were almost unrecognizable when they were found in a funeral parlor in Nasugbu, Batangas. The bodies of the victims were bullet-ridden and Ka Gary's right foot severed.
Zamboanga del Sur: A Red fighter was wounded and left to die by the military in a firefight between Red fighters and the 10th IB in Barangay Maya-maya, Tambulig, Zamboanga del Sur on June 15. An investigation by KARAPATAN-Western Mindanao revealed that Rey Gulane (Ka Titing), 32, was tortured before he was left to die. Soldiers also severed his right ear. Members of KARAPATAN and Gulane's relatives exhumed his remains on June 16 and brought them to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) office in Pagadian City for a medico-legal examination.
Cases from the Cordillera
The Cordillera Human Rights Organizations (CHRO) has submitted in the first week of August the first batch of cases of military abuse in the Cordillera. The cases include:
- the shooting death on July 24, of Bernabe Banguey in Abra, by elements of the 41st IB. Banguey and a companion were accused by the military of being NPA members. He was hit in the calf. Instead of administering first aid on Banguey, the military left him to die from loss of blood.
- the killing of Etfew Chadya-as in Mountain Province and Victor Balais in Pinukpuk, Kalinga in 2002, by troops of the Philippine Army Northern Luzon Command; and of Efren Agsayang in Mankayan, Benguet in 2003.
The NDFP continues to encourage the documentation and filing of cases of human rights violations perpetrated by the AFP, PNP and the regime's other armed forces.
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