Rights groups slams
military intel for "hit list"
Press Release
By KARAPATAN
November 9, 2006
MANILA, Philippines –
The human rights groups KARAPATAN and Desaparecidos today slammed the
government intelligence agency for spying on citizens and including
them on its hit list.
Human rights activists
held a picket this afternoon in front of the National Intelligence
Coordinating Agency (NICA) to protest the recent spate of human rights
violations:
|
▪ |
raid of
a composite team of police and military on the Butuan convent of the
Contemplatives of the Good Shepherd on November 1, 2006; |
|
▪ |
arbitrary execution of KARAPATAN-Eastern Samar Chairperson Dr. Rodrigo
Catayong on November 5, 2006 . He was shot several times on the head
in front of the Catholic Church in MacArthur, Eastern Samar; |
|
▪ |
frustrated killing of Emerlito Dizon, provincial secretary general of
the Alyansa ng Magbubukid sa Gitnang Luson in Palauig, Zambales, on
November, 2006; |
|
▪ |
illegal
arrest of MARY BERNADETTE SOLITARIO and LOURELIE NAIZ in Western
Mindanao. They have gone missing for 3 days and surface in military
custody on November 7, 2006. |
KARAPATAN said the
Arroyo government's Oplan Bantay Laya had a mechanism called "target
research" where military operatives subject citizens and citizens
groups to surveillance and unilaterally list them in an order of
battle. The consequence of such listing is serious threat and physical
elimination through killings or enforced disappearances.
Jigs Clamor, KARAPATAN
Secretary General said "Dr. Catayong and the others are among the
hundreds of victims of the murderous Arroyo government." To date, KARAPATAN listed 779 civilian victims of extrajudicial killings and
186 victims of enforced disappearances.
It was learned that
Dr. Catayong was among the 31 men and women who were listed as targets
of the Samar Leyte Anti-Communist Movement (SLACM) and that prior to
Catayong's death, this bit of information was brought to the attention
of Cabinet Secretary Ricardo Saludo who visited
Tacloban
City
on September 21, 2006.
The SLACM is a
partner, if not directly under the Civil Relations Service of the
Armed Forces of the Philippines (CRS-AFP) in conducting joint rallies
and smear campaign against militant organizations and citizens'
groups.
Meanwhile,
Desaparecidos, an organization of families of victims of enforced
disappearance, echoed and supported the concerns raised by the
International Commission of Jurists on the counter-terrorism law
pending in the Senate that risk resulting in serious human rights
violations.
Ghay Portajada,
Desaparecidos Spokesperson said "The AFP have been abducting and
keeping victims hidden, denying them due process and protection of
law. This has been going on for years and we fear that a
counter-terrorism law full of provisions prone to abuse would further
lead to the rise of enforced disappearance and other human rights
violations.
