Kin of missing activists on UN report: We said so
The families of two abducted activists in Iloilo said the United Nations (UN) report blaming the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) for the killing of activists merely confirmed their suspicions.
"This merely confirms our firm belief that the killings, abductions and attacks are the handiwork of the military," Luis Posa, elder brother of Ma. Luisa Posa-Dominado, said in a telephone interview.
Posa said the report "set aside whatever doubts exist on who is behind these killings and abductions."
"We call on the military to release my sister and Nilo Arado," said Posa.
On April 12, unidentified armed men waylaid the vehicle of Dominado and Arado in Barangay Cabanbanan in Oton town before they were forced into a van. Their companion, human rights workers Jose Ely Garachico was seriously wounded after he was shot in the neck and left behind.
Dominado was the spokesperson in Panay of the Samahan ng mga Ex-Detainees Laban sa Detensyon at para sa Amnestiya (Selda) while Arado headed the regional chapter of the Bagong Alyansang Makabayan (Bayan).
Military officials have repeatedly denied any involvement in the abduction of the two victims.
But Arado's wife Rose said the continued military denials are "ridiculous and insulting in the face of the report of the UN, a respected and non-partisan institution."
"The denials are lies to cover up for their crimes against my husband and many others," she said.
Msgr. Meliton Oso, director of the Jaro Archdiocese social action center, said the UN report "confirms what we suspected all along."
The report will be submitted to the the 8thsession of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) early next year by Philip Alston, a special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions.
Alston who visited the country this year said in his 66-page report that the AFP had killed leftist activists as part of a campaign against communist insurgents.
"In some parts of the country, the Armed Forces have followed a deliberate strategy of systematically hunting down the leaders of leftist organizations," said Alston in his report.
He said the claim of Philippine military and government officials that the extrajudicial killings were a result of internal purges in the communist ranks was "strikingly unconvincing" and was meant to evade responsibility for the killings.