Concrete actions over extrajudicial killings must be made, not just mere propaganda – SAGUPA-SB

Press Release
By SAGUPA-SB
February 28, 2007

TACLOBAN CITY, Leyte  –  Concrete actions must be made by this government over the spate of political and extrajudicial killings noted not only by the victims’ families, survivors, but also by different probe bodies and international human rights groups. This is the reaction of the farmers group Samahan han Gudti nga Parag-uma ha Sinirangan Bisayas (SAGUPA-SB) after reports of the Melo Commission, of UN Special Raporteur Philip Alston, and of different human rights groups here and abroad have repeatedly stressed the culpability of the government and of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and of retired Butcher of the People, Maj. Gen. Jovito Palparan.

Diana Ragub noted that while the government said it is ‘serious in addressing the occurrence of these extrajudicial killings’, it likewise lost no time in defending the AFP.

“A double-edged statement like such is not what the people meant by justice. It is tantamount to saying that the killings were perpetrated only by a handful rotten eggs and it has not been a part of government policy,” said Ragub.

“Lest the government forget, it paved the way for the escalation of the killings following its statements tagging militant groups as fronts of the communist movement and as enemies of the state. For all the accusations against Palparan, it hailed and gave pompous recognition of his supposed valor in the anti-insurgency campaign; it even went its way to promote him despite allegations of his criminal activities,” said Ragub.

Among the proposed actions of the group include the abrogation of Oplan Bantay Laya, the operation plan behind the red-labelling and neutralization or killing campaign among militant groups. Ragub said that it is only through the abrogation of the plan that the President could clearly express that she has the political will to put an end to the extrajudicial killings.

Ragub likewise urge members of the Congress including those who are running for said seats this May 14, 2007 elections that a legislation for the recognition of chain-of-command responsibility must be enacted in order to punish those who, like Palparan, bolstered the ignorance of the armed forces in human rights laws.

“Considering that extrajudicial killings have been a reality in the Philippines, our penal laws must conform with the times and to the fact that these are committed treacherously, either through bonnet-clad men or during nighttime. Military men in the countrysides have likewise been noted not to wear nameplates when they conduct military operations. There is no way for the victims or for witnesses to clearly identify their perpetrators except for circumstantial evidences. A case for murder or attempted murder cannot therefore be had unless you have convincing proof that the accused is the perpetrator. With this, it is easy for the likes of Palparan to absolve themselves from the culpability,” explained Ragub.

“There is a need to enact a law penalizing superior government official, military or otherwise, who encourages or tolerates by omission, any extrajudicial killing committed by their subordinates. Failure of such responsible officer to prevent and investigate, when he had a reasonable opportunity to do so, must be penalized. The same goes for those who instigate, support, and like what Palparan claims, ‘inspire’, extrajudicial killings.”

“These rules of culpability of government officials particularly of top military men are provided for by the Hague Convention IV and X and of the Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions of 1949. These are laws that our Constitution has adopted as generally accepted principles of international law which are supposedly part of the laws of the land,” said Ragub.