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PHILIPPINES: Farmer leader object of overt surveillance and threat shot dead

May 18, 2008

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION – URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME

Urgent Appeal Case: AHRC-UAC-106-2008

19 May 2008
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PHILIPPINES: Farmer leader object of overt surveillance and threat shot dead

ISSUES: Extrajudicial killings; human rights defenders
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Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) deeply regrets to inform you that a farmer leader who had been the object of an overt surveillance and continuing threat had been shot dead on 15 May 2008 in Davao City. The victim, who had been receiving threats from December 2007, had tried to escape from his pursuing attacker after having been shot to call for his colleague's help, but he dies in front of his frightened colleagues.

CASE DETAILS: (According to Alliance for the Advancement of Peoples' Rights (KARAPATAN) and other media sources)

On May 15, 2008 at around 5:45am, Celso Pojas, 45 years old [Photo 1], was having coffee with his officemates inside the offices of Farmers Association in Davao City (FADC) and Peasants Movement in the Philippines (Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP)) - Southern Mindanao region. They were to travel to Compostela Valley, a province close from Davao City, to visit a community of indigenous farmers who had been forcibly displaced due to massive militarization in their area.

A little while later, Pojas had excused himself from the group to buy cigarettes at a nearby store. He promised to be back immediately to finish his coffee. At about 6 a.m., his officemates heard from the outside the sound of about four gunshots.  A boy who was sitting at the veranda of their office had seen Pojas outside their gate waving and shouting: "Tabang!(Help!)".

One of their officemates rushed to the gate where they saw Pojas already fallen to the ground. [Photo 2] He died from gunshots from a .45 caliber pistol to his right rib and his left arm. It took sometime for his frightened colleague to come to his rescue fearing the gunmen would likewise shoot at them. Loreto Laud, Jr., a (Barangay) village chairman in Maa, Davao City, responded about five minutes later. He was followed by local policemen of the Philippine National Police (PNP) who came on board their mobile patrol. The police' Scene of the Crime Operations (SOCO) also arrived in the area and cordoned the crime scene.

By 8am, the SOCO concluded their on site investigation and Pojas' body was brought to Patalinghug Funeral Parlor in Cabaguio Street, Davao City. An autopsy was then conducted by the SOCO.

Pojas had been actively leading the campaign to put a stop to the military operations in Compostela Valley Province from February to March 2008. These military operations escalated the human rights violations against farmers and lumads (local indigenous tribes). He had fought for justice together with the victims of militarization in Bagangga and Cateel, the municipalities in Davao Oriental and in New Bataan in Compostela Valley province. He had also spoken recently with the family of Datu Doming Diarog, a tribal leader who was murdered in 30 April 2008, who had struggled for his tribes ancestral domain rights, in Tugbok, Davao City.
 
The overt surveillance and threat on Pojas started in December 2007. It is reported that the owners of the store near the place where he was shot dead suspected that Pojas' routine had already been monitored by unidentified since then. They had observed that suspicious looking men had been seen loitering in the said area.

Also, for the past few months, Pojas had been receiving death threats. Sometime March this year, after he had his interview from local radio station dxDC in Davao City at the downtown area, a man driving a jeepney (a passenger utility vehicle) had stopped warning him: "be careful your time is due." He has also been receiving death threats through his cellular phone.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

The AHRC has since been concerned about the pattern of killing subsequent to overt surveillance and threats against activists continuously taking place in the country. Out of several cases of this nature, at least two had been documented by local groups and reported to the AHRC this year. This involves cases of labour leader Mercy Santomin of Bulacan and Dante Senillo of Ormoc City.

Mercy's plight began on 10 March 2008 when the soldiers continuously threatened and harassed her and her fellow workers in Bulacan province. Her fellow workers, who are presently holding a picket line in front of their factory, were questioned in separate occasions about her personal details. The soldiers had been falsely accusing her as a leftist; thus, anyone who associates with her would also be pursued. For details please read: AHRC-UAC-088-2008

On the other hand, Dante had since started receiving threats since 16 to 17 December 2007. Though the threats on him had subsided later but he once again started experiencing renewed threats sometime in April this year. For further details please read: AHRC-UAU-024-2008.

You can also read the AHRC's special report regarding the extrajudicial killings in the Philippines at: February 2007 - Special Report: The Criminal Justice System of the Philippines is Rotten.

Please also support by signing to the petition to our continuing campaign to Stop the Extra-judicial killings in the Philippines.

SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write letters to the concerned government agencies below requesting for their appropriate action to ensure that this case is effectively investigated. Investigations into the overt surveillance and threats the victim had been experiencing should likewise be looked into. The authorities must also take action to ensure that cases of similar nature are adequate acted upon.

The AHRC has also written separate letters to the UN Special Rapproteur on the extrajudicial killings and Special Representative to the Secretary General on human rights defenders calling for their intervention in this case.

To support this appeal, please click:

SAMPLE LETTER:

Dear __________,

PHILIPPINES: Farmer leader object of overt surveillance and threat shot dead

Name of victim: Celso Pojas, 45 years old, secretary general for Farmer's Association of Davao City (FADC); spokesperson for Peasants Movement in the Philippine (Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas-Southern Mindanao Region (KMP-SMR))
Alleged perpetrators: Five unidentified armed men (two of whom were riding on a red XRM model motorcycle and the three attackers were seen wearing plainclothes posted outside the gate of the victim's office. Two of the men in plain clothes had their faces covered with a face towel)
Place of incident: In front of the FADC office (about 30 meters away), Maa Road, Davao City
Date of incident: 15 May 2008, at around 6am

I am writing to draw your attention to the case of Celso Pojas, a farmer leader who has since been the object of overt surveillance and threat, who was shot dead on 15 May 2008 in Davao City. He was shot dead by five unidentified men as he was buying cigarettes from a store close to their office.

One of his colleagues, a boy, had seen the attackers shooting at Pojas as the latter was trying to escape from his pursuing gunmen. He, however, died in front of his frightened colleagues as he lay dead on the ground at the gate of their office. He died on the spot from a gunshot wound to his rib and left arm.

I have learned though that prior to that attack, Pojas had been the object of overt surveillance and threats since December 2007. On several occasions unknown persons were seen loitering near their office and close to the store where he was subsequently killed, according to his neighbors living there.

Also, in one occasion, an unknown person driving a passenger utility vehicle had warned him that his days were numbered soon after he had come out of a local radio station where he had been interviewed. He, too, had been receiving threatening messages on his mobile phone.

Pojas, at the time of his death is one of the social activists in Davao City who are vocal against the continuing militarization in indigenous communities in the provinces of Davao, Mindanao. He, too, has since been deeply involved in defending the rights of the farmers and that of the indigenous tribes for their ancestral domains.

I am of the belief that Poja's murder is motivated by his involvement in social activism, which had been continuously taking place in the country for many years now.

I therefore urge you to ensure that his case is effectively and adequately investigated on by the local police. The investigation must also look into who are those responsible for subjecting him to overt surveillance and those who had threatened him--by word and on his mobile phone. Also, I urge you to ensure that the concerned authorities initiate effective steps to protect the lives of activists who are continuously experiencing threats.

Yours sincerely,

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PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTER 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
E-mail: corres@op.gov.ph
 
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: drpvq@yahoo.com

3. Deputy Director General Avelino Razon
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: bluetree73@gmail.com

4. Mr. Raul Gonzalez
Secretary
Department of Justice (DoJ)
DOJ Bldg., Padre Faura
1004 Manila
PHILIPPINES
Fax: +63 2 521 1614
E-mail: agnesdeva@yahoo.com

5. Lt. Gen.Alexander Yano
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

Thank you.

Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (ua@ahrchk.org)

Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Case
Document ID :
AHRC-UAC-106-2008
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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.