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PHILIPPINES: A man in police custody disappeared for more than three months

August 18, 2009

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME

Urgent Appeal Case: AHRC-UAC-100-2009

19 August 2009
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PHILIPPINES: A man in police custody disappeared for more than three months

ISSUES: Disappearance; right to liberty and security; torture
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Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) writes to inform you about the continued disappearance of one of three men. Soldiers illegally arrested them on May 18, 2009, on suspicion that they were members of a rebel group. The missing victim was last reported in police custody; however, the police officer who had taken him into custody is now denying it.

CASE DETAILS: (According to information received from the Task Force Detainees of the Philippines (TFDP)-Mindanao))

On May 18, 2009, at 4am, three persons, all neighbors, namely Tong Baman, Abdulnur Mangkiang and Dag Sandag Guiamalon, were asleep in their own homes when soldiers attached to the 40th Infantry Battalion (IB), Philippine Army (PA), came to their area in Barangay (village) Nabalawag, Midsayap, Cotabato.

Three persons, in plain clothes and camouflage military uniforms, came to Baman's house where they met his wife, Kalimatol. The soldiers demanded that she wake up her husband. The soldiers went inside their house without the occupants' consent. As they were talking, the soldiers asked Baman his name.

When told to see the other soldiers who were in his backyard, Baman was at first hesitant to meet them as he was afraid they might shoot him. Only when he was told that the soldiers wanted merely to ask him a few questions that he complied. However, as Baman approached the group of soldiers, they tied his hands behind his back with a nylon rope instead.

Meanwhile, Guiamalon's wife, whose name was withheld, was carrying water from a place close to her house when she saw four persons. They were speaking in the Maguindanaon dialect, and were there before her. She was asked the whereabouts of her husband, Dag Sandag Guiamalon (whose nickname is "Dok"). When she told them that he was inside their house, they said that they would like to talk to him. Four other persons asked her for some coffee.

At 4:30am, while the four were inside the house drinking coffee, a group of soldiers in uniform entered the house where Guiamalon and Mangkiang were and arrested them. They each had their hands tied with nylon ropes behind their backs. The soldiers then walked Baman, Mangkiang and Guiamalon towards their detachment. They walked for about a kilometer from the house to the highway where an L-300 van was waiting to pick them up and bring them to their unit.

At 7am, they took Baman and Mangkiang to separate huts. They interrogated them after putting linen-type blindfolds on them. Then, Baman saw the soldiers leaving, taking Guiamalon with them in an L-300 van. Baman and Mangkiang were questioned about their involvement with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebel group. But when they told the soldiers that they were fishermen, not MILF members, they punched Baman several times in the   face and chest,   hitting his feet with the butt of an Armalite rifle. Hot chilies were also applied to his penis. They also punched Mangkiang three times in the abdomen.

At 9am, a member of the Barangay (village) council and his Secretary came to the 40th Infantry Battalion (IB) unit to inquire into the whereabouts of the three victims. By 4pm, the soldiers had Mangkiang and Baman in their custody. Guiamalon, on the other hand, was not with the other two victims, but was later reported to have been turned over to the local police station.

On the same day, May 18, a receipt was signed by Police Chief Inspector Emeliana Piang Mangansakan.  As chief of police of Datu Piang Municipal Police station, she had taken custody of Dag Sandag Guimalon after he was turned over by soldiers of the 40th IBPA.

However, on May 19, a follow-up visit was made at the same police station by members of the Non-violent peace force and the Bantay Ceasefire. They are a volunteer group monitoring the peace agreement between the rebel group and the government. The Barangay officials and the relatives of Guimalon found he was no longer in police custody. The police however, did not properly explain to them who had taken custody of Guiamalon. When they showed the acknowledgement receipt which bears the name and signature of Police Chief Inspector Mangansakan, she denied having signed the document. She claimed that she was not on duty when the turn-over of the victim took place.

As of this writing, the whereabouts of Guiamalon remains unknown.

SUGGESTED ACTION:
Kindly write to the concerned government agencies to conduct an impartial investigation regarding the illegal arrest, brief detention and torture of the three victims. The whereabouts of one of the victims, who continues to be missing, must also be located. The police officer and the police station, where the victim was last known to have been in custody, should also be investigated.

The AHRC has also written letters to the UN Rapporteur on the Question of Torture and UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances.

To support this appeal, please click here:

SAMPLE LETTER:

Dear_______,

Re: PHILIPPINES: A man in police custody disappeared for more than three months

Name of the disappeared victim:
1.) Dag Sandag Guiamalon (his nickname is Nasrodin, 'Dok'), 37 years old, married with three children, fisherman and a resident of Barangay (village) Nabalawag, Midsayap, Cotabato. His whereabouts remain unknown
Name of other victims:
1.) Tong Baman, 39 years old, married with seven children, fisherman and a resident of Barangay Nabalawag, Midsayap, Cotabato
2.) Abdulnur Mangkiang, 26 years old, married, fisherman and a resident of Barangay Nabalawag, Midsayap, Cotabato
Baman and Mangkiang were released from military custody to the Barangay officials on May 18, 2009 at 4pm. All the victims are of the Maguindanaon Tribe
Alleged perpetrators: soldiers attached to the 40th Infantry Battalion (IB), Philippine Army (PA).
Date of incident: May 18, 2009 at 4am
Place of incident: Barangay Nabalawag, Midsayap, Cotabato

I am writing to express my serious concern regarding the continued disappearance of one of three men whom soldiers illegally arrested, briefly detained and tortured on 18 May 2009. The victim, falsely accused by the military of having been involved with a rebel group, was taken from his home in a village in Midsayap, Cotabato.

Although two of three victims, namely Tong Baman and Abdulnur Mangkiang, were released on the day of their arrest, the whereabouts of their other companion, Dag Sandag Guiamalon, is unknown.

While in custody, the soldiers had Baman and Mangkiang taken to separate huts. Blindfolded, they were subjected to questioning regarding their alleged involvement with a rebel group.  Baman had been punched several times in the face and chest, his feet beaten with the butt of an Armalite rifle. Hot chilies were also applied to his penis. Mangkiang was also punched three times in the abdomen.

I am disappointed with the actions of Chief Inspector Emeliana Piang Mangansakan, chief of police of the Datu Piang Municipal Police Station. She had signed a document, dated May 18, acknowledging having taken custody of Dag Sandag Guimalon from the 40th IBPA.  She is denying this without giving sufficient reasons.

Despite her signature being affixed to the document, Police Chief Inspector Mangansakan uttered denials to the Barangay officials and the relatives of the victim. They had inquired of her about the victim's whereabouts on May 19. She said Guimalon was no longer in their custody. But, when showed the receipt with her name and signature on it, acknowledging taking custody of the victim, she claimed the victim was turned over to her deputy and not to her.

The complicity of the local police in the continued disappearance of the victim is extremely disturbing. If the victim had committed a criminal offense, he should have been turned over to the proper authorities without delay, so as to be able to make a defense in court. I therefore urge you to have this police official and the police station, where the victim was last known to have been in custody, investigated. The soldiers involved in illegally arresting, briefly detaining and torturing the victim while in their custody must also be subjected to an investigation.

Sincerely,

 --------------------
PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:

1. Mrs. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo
President
Republic of the Philippines
Malacanang Palace
JP Laurel Street, San Miguel
Manila 1005
PHILIPPINES
Fax: +63 2 736 1010
Tel: +63 2 735 6201 / 564 1451 to 80

2. Ms. Leila De Lima
Commissioner
Commission on Human Rights
SAAC Bldg., Commonwealth Avenue
U.P. Complex, Diliman
Quezon City
PHILIPPINES
Fax: +63 2 929 0102
Tel: +63 2 928 5655 / 926 6188
E-mail: mtm_rodulfo@yahoo.com

3. Deputy Director General Jesus A. Verzosa
Chief, Philippine National Police (PNP)
Camp General Rafael Crame
Quezon City
PHILIPPINES
Fax: +63 2724 8763
Tel: +63 2 726 4361/4366/8763
E-mail: ruth_cossid@yahoo.com

4. Ms. Agnes Devanadera
Secretary
Department of Justice (DoJ)
DOJ Bldg., Padre Faura
1004 Manila
PHILIPPINES
Fax: +63 2 521 1614
E-mail: raulgonzalez_doj@yahoo.com

5. Lieutenant General Victor S. Ibrado
Chief of Staff
Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP)
AFP-GHQ Offices, Camp Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo
Quezon City
PHILIPPINES
Fax: +63 2 911 6436
Tel: +63 2 911 6001 to 50

6. Mr. Quinciano V. Bueno
Regional Director
CHR, Region 12
Pascua Bldg., Arellano Street
Koronadal City
PHILIPPINES
Tel: +63 83 5538887

7. Mr. Gilberto C. Teodoro, Jr.
Secretary
Department of National Defense
Room 301 DND Bldg., Camp Emelio Aguinaldo
E. de los Santos Avenue
Quezon City
PHILIPPINES
Fax: +63 2 911 6213
Tel: +63 2 911 9281 / 911 0488
E-mail: osnd@philonline.com

8. Mr. Avelino Razon
Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process
Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process (OPAPP)
7th Floor Agustin Building I
Emerald Avenue
Pasig City 1605
PHILIPPINES
Fax: +63 2 638 2216
Tel: +63 2 636 0701 to 066
E-mail:  osec@opapp.gov.ph


Thank you.

Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (ua@ahrc.asia)

Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Case
Document ID :
AHRC-UAC-100-2009
Countries :
Issues :
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Extended Introduction: Urgent Appeals, theory and practice

A need for dialogue

Many people across Asia are frustrated by the widespread lack of respect for human rights in their countries.  Some may be unhappy about the limitations on the freedom of expression or restrictions on privacy, while some are affected by police brutality and military killings.  Many others are frustrated with the absence of rights on labour issues, the environment, gender and the like. 

Yet the expression of this frustration tends to stay firmly in the private sphere.  People complain among friends and family and within their social circles, but often on a low profile basis. This kind of public discourse is not usually an effective measure of the situation in a country because it is so hard to monitor. 

Though the media may cover the issues in a broad manner they rarely broadcast the private fears and anxieties of the average person.  And along with censorship – a common blight in Asia – there is also often a conscious attempt in the media to reflect a positive or at least sober mood at home, where expressions of domestic malcontent are discouraged as unfashionably unpatriotic. Talking about issues like torture is rarely encouraged in the public realm.

There may also be unwritten, possibly unconscious social taboos that stop the public reflection of private grievances.  Where authoritarian control is tight, sophisticated strategies are put into play by equally sophisticated media practices to keep complaints out of the public space, sometimes very subtly.  In other places an inner consensus is influenced by the privileged section of a society, which can control social expression of those less fortunate.  Moral and ethical qualms can also be an obstacle.

In this way, causes for complaint go unaddressed, un-discussed and unresolved and oppression in its many forms, self perpetuates.  For any action to arise out of private frustration, people need ways to get these issues into the public sphere.

Changing society

In the past bridging this gap was a formidable task; it relied on channels of public expression that required money and were therefore controlled by investors.  Printing presses were expensive, which blocked the gate to expression to anyone without money.  Except in times of revolution the media in Asia has tended to serve the well-off and sideline or misrepresent the poor.

Still, thanks to the IT revolution it is now possible to communicate with large audiences at little cost.  In this situation there is a real avenue for taking issues from private to public, regardless of the class or caste of the individual.

Practical action

The AHRC Urgent Appeals system was created to give a voice to those affected by human rights violations, and by doing so, to create a network of support and open avenues for action.  If X’s freedom of expression is denied, if Y is tortured by someone in power or if Z finds his or her labour rights abused, the incident can be swiftly and effectively broadcast and dealt with. The resulting solidarity can lead to action, resolution and change. And as more people understand their rights and follow suit, as the human rights consciousness grows, change happens faster. The Internet has become one of the human rights community’s most powerful tools.   

At the core of the Urgent Appeals Program is the recording of human rights violations at a grass roots level with objectivity, sympathy and competence. Our information is firstly gathered on the ground, close to the victim of the violation, and is then broadcast by a team of advocates, who can apply decades of experience in the field and a working knowledge of the international human rights arena. The flow of information – due to domestic restrictions – often goes from the source and out to the international community via our program, which then builds a pressure for action that steadily makes its way back to the source through his or her own government.   However these cases in bulk create a narrative – and this is most important aspect of our program. As noted by Sri Lankan human rights lawyer and director of the Asian Human Rights Commission, Basil Fernando:

"The urgent appeal introduces narrative as the driving force for social change. This idea was well expressed in the film Amistad, regarding the issue of slavery. The old man in the film, former president and lawyer, states that to resolve this historical problem it is very essential to know the narrative of the people. It was on this basis that a court case is conducted later. The AHRC establishes the narrative of human rights violations through the urgent appeals. If the narrative is right, the organisation will be doing all right."

Patterns start to emerge as violations are documented across the continent, allowing us to take a more authoritative, systemic response, and to pinpoint the systems within each country that are breaking down. This way we are able to discover and explain why and how violations take place, and how they can most effectively be addressed. On this path, larger audiences have opened up to us and become involved: international NGOs and think tanks, national human rights commissions and United Nations bodies.  The program and its coordinators have become a well-used tool for the international media and for human rights education programs. All this helps pave the way for radical reforms to improve, protect and to promote human rights in the region.