Karapatan-Central Visayas called for justice for Arthur Lucenario, youth organizer in the region, on the first anniversary of his abduction and extrajudicial killing by the 47th IB. The military abducted Lucenario in San Miguel, Bohol on April 14, 2023.

His executioners secretly imprisoned him for a month, tortured and then falsely claimed him a Red fighter killed in an encounter on May 12, 2023 in Barangay Tabuan, Antequera, Bohol. Lucenario was a member of the Anakbayan group in Cebu before becoming an organizer in Bohol.

“We must continue to expose and condemn these crimes of the military and stand in solidarity with those who are fighting for their rights and freedom,” Karapatan-Central Visayas said.

The group says Lucenario’s case is just one of many cases of enforced disappearance in the region and nationwide. “There is an increasing pattern of cases of abducting activists and subsequently parading them as surrenderers or, more brutally, falsely claiming them as casualties of an alleged encounter,” according to the group.

They also emphasize, the Filipino people now need more effort to call for justice and hold accountable those involved in these heinous crimes and violations of international humanitarian law.