State Terror under the

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State Terror under the US-Arroyo Regime
KARAPATAN HUMAN RIGHTS REPORT FOR T HE PERMANENT
PEOPLES TRIBUNAL, 2007
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A People Power President who rules by force,
suppression, and deception
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Human Rights VIolations
839 victims, all unarmed civilians have been
killed.

• 194 have been forcibly abducted and remain
  missing till this day.

(January 21, 2001-March 21, 2007)
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• 839 documented killings
• 444 not affiliated with any political organization

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• 839 documented killings
• 395 from Left organizations, including
• 129 from Bayan Muna
• 42 from Anakpawis
• 2 from Gabriela Womens Party
• 222 sectoral and community leaders

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Massacre
839 documented killings
35 cases of massacre
193 victims
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The Victims
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All sectors including human rights and church
workers are targets
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Even children are not spared!

• 50 children have died at the hands of suspected
  military death squads

Children victims of Kanangga Massacre in Leyte,
2002
This child survived the attack while one of his
siblings and his father Jericho Barbas, died.
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National in scope, with focus on OBL priority
areas
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Frustrated Extra-judicial Killings
there are also victims who survived but will
forever suffer from serious physical injuries
and/or emotional and psychological trauma
Alden Ambida, Bayan Muna provincial coordinator,
Eastern Samar Survivor, frustrated assassination
April 9, 2005
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Enforced Disappearances
Karen Empeno, UP student Abducted on June 26, 2006
Sherlyn Cadapan, UP student Abducted on June 26,
2006
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194 documented enforced disappearances

• 41 belongs to organization identified with the
  left

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Topographic Presentation of Killings and
Disappearances under Arroyo Regime from January,
2001 to August, 2006
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There is a pattern

• The victims are either leaders or active members
  of militant parties or organizations or ordinary
  folk in areas where the AFP conducts internal
  security operations.

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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.

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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 militarys order of battle.

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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.

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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.

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There is a pattern

• The foregoing pattern results in a climate of
  IMPUNITY, with the killings and abductions
  getting more brazen by the day.

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Why the widespread and systematic killings?

• AFPs Oplan Bantay Laya (2002-2006)
• Aims to destroy the CPP-NPAs political
  infrastructure (read front organizations)
• No distinction between armed rebels and unarmed
  civilians working within the legal framework

?
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Why the widespread and systematic killings?

• Bayan Munas triumphant entry into the
  parliamentary arena in 2001
• Followed by Anakpawis and Gabriela in 2004
• Despite liberal posturing, the Lefts phenomenal
  entry in the political mainstream is seen as a
  threat by the military and the ruling elite

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Why the widespread and systematic killings?

• AFPs 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

?
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AFP "intelligence" briefing materials
SPECIFIC CHARACTER OF THE PROTRACTED PEOPLE'S WAR
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CPP/NPA AND SECTORAL FRONT PERSONALITIES
AFP "intelligence" briefing materials
Taken from a PowerPoint presentation of the NOLCOM
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Torture
799 documented victims
In most areas, torture cases are difficult to
document for the victims fear for reprisal
Angie Ipong, Gabriela member, tortured and
detained
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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

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Attacks on communities
263, 598 victims of Forced Evacuation/Displacement
21, 506 victims of Hamletting/Zoning
14, 502 victims of Food and Economic Blockades
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Attacks on communities
From January 21, 2001 to December 31, 2006 GMA
committed 7,450 documented cases of human rights
violations victimizing 480, 099 individuals
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Legal offensive vs. govt critics

• IALAG formed under the office of the National
  Security Adviser to manufacture cases vs. govt
  critics, especially from the Left
• Six members of Congress charged with rebellion,
  other members of the Opposition and the media
  swamped with harassment cases

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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

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Whitewashing govt role in HRVs

• Task Force Usig appears more intent in proving
  the NPA purge theory than in a genuine
  investigation of the cases

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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

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and the world is taking notice.
UNHRC
Inter-Parliamentary Union
World Council of Churches
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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
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Melo Commission Report
The Melo report confirmed what KARAPATAN have
pointed out in its previous pronouncements that
state security forces are responsible in the
political killings.
Mantaring
Melo
Bp. Pueblos
Teodoro-Gonzales
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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