Home / News / Urgent Appeals / PHILIPPINES: Five missing persons are allegedly being detained in the army camp in Lipa City
 

PHILIPPINES: Five missing persons are allegedly being detained in the army camp in Lipa City

April 29, 2006

URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTION URGENT ACTION

ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME

Urgent Appeal

30 April 2006
------------------------------------------------------
UA-143-2006: PHILIPPINES: Five missing persons are allegedly being detained in the army camp in Lipa City

PHILIPPINES: Abduction and forced disappearance  
-------------------------------------------------------

Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission has received information that five persons have been missing since 28 April 2005 in Tagaytay City, Philippines. They are Riel Custodio, Axel Pinpin, Enrico Ybanez, Michael Mesias and Aristides Sarmiento. Riel and Axel are known peasant activists working for the organisation, "Kalipunan ng mga Magsasaka sa Kabite (Kamagsasaka-Ka or Farmers’ Federation in Cavite)". The remaining three persons are civilians. The circumstantial evidence indicates that the victims may be being detained in the military custody of elements of the 740th Philippine Air Force, located in Fernando Air Base, in Lipa City. However, the army denied this allegation when the families of the victims went to visit the army camp.  

At around 6:25pm on 28 April 2006, the five persons mentioned above left Brangay Tolentino, Tagaytay City, South of Manila, in a white car. Between 6:25 and 7:00pm, while they were on the way to Bauan, Batangas they were reached by their families and friends through phone calls and sms messages. However, after 7:00pm, the five persons could no longer be reached, and their whereabouts have remained unknown ever since.

Since then the families of the victims learned that the victims might be being detained by the elements of the 740th Philippine Air Force, located in Fernando Air Base, in Lipa City. This allegation was the result of a sms message being sent this morning (April 30) from Aristides Sarmiento’s (one of the missing persons) cell phone to one of his friends. The message was investigated into, by inquiring into the code number of the SMS message, and it was discovered that it had been sent from the very same area where the army camp in Batangas City is located.

After learning this, family and friends of those missing immediately went to visit the army camp. A lawyer also accompanied them. When they arrived at the army camp at around 3:00pm the army officers at the camp denied any involvement in the matter and said that the five persons were not in their custody. When the families asked if they could enter the camp to determine if the victims were there, Sergeant Dimaculangan at first accepted their request. The group entered the compound of the camp. However, when they approached the entrance to the inside of the camp where the detention facilities are located, they were refused further entry by army officers.

Meanwhile, a group of people from the Karapatan (Alliance for the Advancement of Peoples Rights), Batangas Chapter arrived at the army camp and commenced their protest urging the camp officials to help locate the victims. Upon seeing this group, the army officers asked the families and friends of the victims whether they were fellows of that group. Even though they said no, the army officers threatened to arrest them if they were connected to that group. They were allowed out of the camp shortly after that.

According to the latest information, people from the Karapatan are still holding their demonstration in front of the army camp. In an attempt to drown out the protestors chants, the army turned their loudspeakers on. The reason for the abduction of the victims is not known.

ADDITIONAL COMMENT:

Forced abduction and disappearance is not new to this area. Most recently, an activist named Dario Almonte was disappeared on 6 April 2006. He was abducted by unidentified armed men at his sister’s house in Puyo Compound, Sta. Clara, Batangas City. (See further: UA-124-2006). Prior to Dario’s abduction, another activist Francis Noel Desacula went missing on 9 January 2006. (See further: UA-042-2006). Even though the court twice conducted hearings into Desacula relatives’ petition for a writ of habeas corpus, no respondents appeared in court. The whereabouts of the two persons remain unknown. It is alleged that the military forces in the area are responsible for the disappearances.

The number of enforced and involuntary disappearances in the Philippines, in particular in the Luzon islands, has recently grown to an alarming rate. The AHRC has repeatedly raised concerns over the increasing number of disappearances in the country and the absence of an enabling law to adequately address this problem. (Please see our statement on this: AS-043-2006).


SUGGESTE4D ACTION:

Please write letters to the agencies listed below asking them to conduct a prompt and impartial investigation which looks into the allegation that the five victims may be being held illegally by the elements of the 740th Philippine Air Force, located in Fernando Air Base, in Lipa City. If they are being held by the military and if there are no sufficient grounds to justify their detention, they must be released without delay. If, however, the five victims are not in the custody of the military, the concerned government agencies must take all measures to locate their whereabouts. The perpetrators should be identified and criminal charges must be filed against them for the abduction and forced disappearance of the victims.

Suggested letter:

Dear _________,

PHILIPPINES: Five missing persons are allegedly being detained in the army camp in Lipa City

Names of the victims:
1. Riel Custodio, peasant organiser of the organization "Kalipunan ng mga Magsasaka sa Kabite (Kamagsasaka-Ka or Farmers’ Federation in Cavite)" in Cavite province, Philippines
2. Axel Pinpin, peasant organiser and works at the same organisation as victim No. 1 
3. Enrico Ybanez, civilian, resident of Barangay Tolentino, Tagaytay City, south of Manila
4. Michael Mesias, civilian, resident of Barangay Tolentino
5. Aristides Sarmiento, civilian
Date and time of disappearance: 28 April 2006 at 7pm
Place of disappearance: Between Barangay Tolentino, Tagaytay City and Bauan, Batangas

I am writing to bring to your attention the forcible abduction and disappearance of the five persons listed above on 28 April 2006 in Tagaytay City. Two of the victims are peasant activists and the remaining three are civilians. The circumstantial evidence indicates that the victims may be being detained by elements of the 740th Philippine Air Force, located in Fernando Air Base, in Lipa City.

According to the information I have received, the five victims left Brangay Tolentino, Tagaytay City, South of Manila, in a white car heading to Bauan, Batangas at around 6:25pm on April 28. They were contactable by cell phone between 6:25pm and 7pm. However, after 7pm, they could no longer be reached, and their whereabouts have remained unknown since then.

On the morning of April 30, a friend of one of the victims, Aristides Sarmiento, received a sms message from Aristide’s cell phone. When the families of the victims tracked down where the message was sent from, they found that the site was near the area where the army camp of the 740th Philippine Air Force, Ferenaod Air Base, in Lipa City is located. The family members and some of their friends, accompanied by a lawyer, immediately went to the army camp. However, the army officers at the camp denied that the victims were being detained there. When the families requested that they be allowed to go into the camp to verify this, Sergeant Dimaculangan at first accepted this. However, when the families arrived at the entrance gate to the camp, they were refrained from going further and soon after told to leave.

In light of the above, I strongly urge you to order a prompt and proper investigation to determine whether the five disappeared persons are being held by elements of the 740th Philippine Air Force, located in Fernando Air Base, in Lipa City. I also urge you to release them immediately if it is found that they are being held illegally at the army camp. If, however, the five victims are not in the custody of the military, I further urge you to take all measures to locate their whereabouts and inform the families of the victims of this as soon as possible. The perpetrators should be identified and prosecuted for the abduction and forced disappearance of the victims.

I am deeply concerned that the number of enforced and involuntary disappearances in the Philippines, in particular in the Luzon islands, has recently grown to an alarming rate. For instance, activist Dario Almonte went missing on 6 April 2006 after being abducted by unidentified armed men in Puyo Compound, Sta. Clara, Batangas City. Prior to Dario’s abduction, another activist Francis Noel Desacula went missing on 9 January 2006. Investigations into the two incidents show no progress and the whereabouts of the two persons remain unknown. I therefore urge you to take more firm action to address the cases of enforced disappearances and provide remedies to the families of the victims. Lastly, I urge you to strongly recommend the Philippine government to enact the proposed enabling law on enforced disappearance--an Act Defining and Penalizing the Crime of Enforced or Involuntary Disappearance (HB 1556) without delay.

I look forward to your urgent intervention into this case.

 
----------------------

PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:

1. Ms. Purificacion Quisumbing
Commissioner
Commission on Human Rights
SAAC Bldg., Commonwealth Avenue
U.P. Complex, Diliman
Quezon City
PHILIPPINES
Tel: +63 2 928 5655 / 926 6188
Fax: +63 2 929 0102
Email: drpvq@chr.gov.ph

2. P/DIR Gen. Arturo Lumibao
Chief, Philippine National Police (PNP)
Camp General Rafael Crame
Quezon City
PHILIPPINES
Tel: +63 2726 4361/4366/8763
Fax: +63 2724 8763

3. Mr. Raul Gonzalez
Secretary
Department of Justice
DOJ Bldg., Padre Faura
1004 Manila
PHILIPPINES
Fax: +63 2 521 1614
Email: sechbp@infocom.com.ph

4. Gen. Generoso Senga
Chief of Staff
Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP)
Armed Forces of the Philippines General Headquarters Offices (AFP-GHQ)
Camp General Emilio Aguinaldo
Quezon City
PHILIPPINES

5. Prof. Manfred Nowak
Special Rapporteur on the Question of Torture
Attn: Mr. Safir Syed
C/o OHCHR-UNOG
1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Tel: +41 22 917 9230
Fax: +41 22 917 9016 (general)
E-mail: ssyed@ohchr.org

6. Ms. Hina Jilani
Special Representative of the Secretary General for human rights defenders
Attn: Melinda Ching Simon
Room 1-040
OHCHR-UNOG
1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Tel: +41 22 917 93 88
Fax: +41 22 917 9006 (ATTN: SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS)
E-mail: MChingSimon@ohchr.org

Thank you.

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


Document Type :
Urgent Appeal Case
Document ID :
UA-143-2006
Countries :
Campaigns :
Issues :
Document Actions
Share |
Subscribe to our Mailing List
Follow AHRC
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.