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UPDATE (Philippines): Court acquits four torture victims after nearly seven years of trial

February 2, 2010

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME
 
Urgent Appeal Update: AHRC-UAU-002-2010
 
2 February 2010
 
[RE: UP-92-2005: Prosecutor's failure to ensure appearance of its complainants and witnesses postpones trial of five men]
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PHILIPPINES: Court acquits four torture victims after nearly seven years of trial

ISSUES: Torture victims; arbitrary arrest and detention; administration of justice
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Dear Friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is pleased to inform you that four of the five torture victims whose illegal arrest, torture and trial under fabricated charges we reported earlier, have been acquitted by a local court. The victims, two of whom were minors at the time of their arrest, were prosecuted for two bombing incidents in 2003 in Davao City.

UPDATED INFORMATION:

When we first reported this case (UA-69-2005) in April 2005, the victims had already been charged with multiple murders and frustrated murders in connection with the March and April 2003 bombing incidents in Davao City, which killed dozens of people. Their case had been pending for two years without trial (UP-92-2005).

But on 29 January 2010 the media reported that four of the victims, namely Tohamie Ulong, Ting Idar, Jimmy Balulao and Esmael Mamalangkas, had been acquitted by Judge Pelagio Paguican of the Regional Trial Court Branch 12 in Davao City, from two charges because "the prosecution was unable to provide sufficient evidence that would prove the guilt of all the accused beyond reasonable doubt".

When they were arrested, Tohamie and Jimmy were minors. Judge Paguican, however, convicted the co-accused Toto Akmad, for his 'direct participation' in the 4 March 2003 bomb blast, which took place in the waiting shed of Davao International Airport, killing 22 persons and wounding 145 others. Like the four others, Akmad was tortured after his arrest.

The military and the police deliberately covered up the incidents of torture. However several days after their arrest, a former staff member of the Task Force Detainees of the Philippines (TFDP), a local human rights organization, was able to interview each of the victims while they were held at the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG XI) headquarters in Davao City.

However after the victims had signed their sworn statements the following day, Senior Police Officer 2 (SPO2) Gabunada of the CIDG had them confiscated and the police refused to return them. Fortunately an electronic copy of three of the victim's statements had been stored by the TFDP in Davao City.  Yet though SPO2 Gabunada was reprimanded after he was charged with administrative complaint, the copies have never been returned.

Reproduced below are excerpts of the testimonies that Balulao, Idar and Mamalangkas made regarding their torture:

Jimmy Balulao:
"I was blindfolded with a cloth and masking tape. They interrogated and tortured me inside the 6th ID (Awang, Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao) camp and forced to admit of participating in Davao International airport bombing and Sasa wharf bombing. I was repeatedly mauled. They placed my belt on my neck and pulled it upwards to strangle me until I could already hardly breathe. I was dragged near a dog pen and I was threatened to be fed to the dogs every time I deny any involvement in those bombings.

While I was interrogated, one of my abductors kept on hitting my elbow with a hard object until it got numbed. I was made to lie on the cement floor while three (3) bullets were place between his three (3) left fingers and then it was pressed which was very painful. They placed an object on my lap, which according to them was a bomb, to frighten men and then they did it twice. They repeatedly punched my head and other parts of my body.

Then they brought Tohamie (his co-accused) near me who persuaded me to admit participation in the Davao airport and Sasa wharf bombing so that our abductors will stop torturing us but I still refused. One of my abductors told me to admit the bombing otherwise more harm will be inflicted on us once we are brought to Davao City. I was complaining of my body pains but I was not allowed to be examined.

Because of fear that I will be eventually killed if I will continue denying it I was forced to admit my participation in those bombings while undergoing investigation at the CIDG"

Ting Idar:
"I was placed in a room where I was tortured. One of my abductors placed an object on my lap to frighten me, which according to him is a bomb, but it did not explode when it fell to the floor. Our abductors forced me to admit participation in the Davao International airport and Sasa wharf bombing incidents. They repeatedly mauled me and placed a rope around my neck which they pulled up every now and then, until I could not breathe.

They again placed an object on my lap which according to them is a bomb and they let me sit on the bowl inside a comfort room. Then they brought me out of the comfort room and they threatened to electrocute me if I will not admit my participation in the said bombings. They electrocuted my left foot, which caused me intense pain and I almost lost consciousness. When I was almost unconscious they poured water on me

Upon reaching the CIDG in Davao City (after being flown from Cotabato City), they compelled me to affixed my thumb mark on some documents which I do not know and one of the officers assigned there even pointed his handgun between my eyes. I complained of body pains, but I was not examined."

Esmael Mamalangkas:
"They forced me to a waiting vehicle were my co-accused were already held. They brought us to the 6ID at Awang, Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao where we were held in a room. They punched and kicked me in different parts of my body while I was blindfolded with a cloth and a masking tape. I was forced and tortured by my abductors to admit participation in the bombing incidents which I have nothing to do with. They repeatedly mauled me."

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) extends its deep appreciation to the victims' families and their lawyer Hamlet Pahm, for their enormous contribution in exonerating the victims from the false charges, and obtaining their release. We also thank those who intervened in this case through our Urgent Appeals program.


Thank you.

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

Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Update
Document ID :
AHRC-UAU-002-2010
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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.