Kin of abducted Muslim clerics files complaint before CHR
Bani
The family of one of the two Muslim clerics arrested by government agents on Boracay Island has filed a complaint before the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) to compel authorities to surface their kin.
In their complaint filed before the CHR regional office Mahid Bani, accompanied by his mother Omil Macaraya-Bani, accused operatives of the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP) of abducting his brother Muhammad Bani and his brother's friend Al-Midzbar Bunajal last Saturday.
Mahid furnished the CHR a copy of a report of the Boracay Special Tourist Police Office (BSTPO) which confirmed that the armed men who took the two clerics without any arrest warrants were ISAFP agents.
"We cannot still find them five days after they were taken and we do not know how they are right now," said Mahid in an interview at the CHR office.
Bunajal
He said their family and leaders of Muslim community associations are trying to locate the two clerics in military and police camps in Manila.
Bani's mother appealed to authorities to surface her son and Bunajal.
"My son is innocent. But even if they have done something wrong, just file the cases but do not hide them especially from us," said Omil.
Bani's family has denied that he is involved or part of a terrorist group.
Heavily armed men in plainclothes forcibly took Bani and Bunajal in Barangay Manoc-Manoc. The BSTPO has confirmed that the armed men were ISAFP agents although they failed to coordinate their operation with the local police.
AFP Chief of Staff Gen. Hermogenes Esperon Jr. has also confirmed the arrest of a terror suspect in Boracay.
Omil said they have tried calling her son's cellphone but it was unanswered until it stopped ringing the day after he was taken.
Mahid said the "abduction" of his brother has struck fear among the members of the Muslim community in Boracay now reaching around 1,000.
"This is the first time that this has happened to us. We fear that more of us would be taken this way," said Mahid.
He said they would be among the first ones to report any criminal or terrorist element in Boracay.
"We have been living on the island for years and our livelihood is here. We don't want anything to happen that could put Boracay on a bad light," said Mahid.