Has the Philippine army been in cahoots with armed groups accused of
murdering civilians in the southern region of Mindanao? That’s the focus of an
investigation the government has finally agreed to undertake.
Responding to
pressure inside and outside the country, including from the United Nations, the
government said on Sept. 22 that it would probe the killings of three
indigenous rights activists earlier this month. Now, Justice Secretary Leila de
Lima has said the investigation will be broadened to look into the wider roles
of paramilitaries and their supporters.
Who are the victims?
The victims are
known as “Lumads,” is a collective term for indigenous peoples living in
Mindanao. Lumad communities have found themselves caught in a war between the
Philippine military and an insurgent group known as the New People’s Army
(NPA).
Both the military
and paramilitary groups have been accused of abuses against civilians, and the
brazen killing of three indigenous leaders earlier this month sparked outrage
and international attention. A paramilitary group called the Magahat Bagani
Force attacked an indigenous school on 1 September in the town of Lianga in
Surigao del Sur province, according to local civil society groups as well as
Human Rights Watch and the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for
Human Rights.
In the pre-dawn
attack, paramilitary members allegedly broke down dormitory doors and herded
students and teachers outside. Magahat members then shot and killed educational
administrators Dionel Campos and Emerito Samarca, as well as Juvillo Sinzo, a
tribal leader. According to HRW, Philippine army soldiers had arrived in the
community the day before the attack and camped nearby, but they did not
intervene as the killings took place.
Rights and
environmental organisations have also accused the military and paramilitaries
of attempting to drive indigenous people from their ancestral lands in order to
make way for mining companies. The province of Surigao del Sur has been
designated by the government as the “mining capital of the Philippines”, HRW
noted. Campos was a noted activist opposed to the exploitation of indigenous
people by mining companies.
Who are the paramilitary groups?
The Alamara
paramilitary group operates in the province of Davao del Norte, and rights
groups say its members often carry out activities alongside military troops.
According to HRW, soldiers accompanied Alamara members who harassed students
and teachers in the town of Talaingod in March. “The soldiers stayed outside
the classrooms but allowed the Alamara to go inside, fully-armed, accusing us
of being supporters of the NPA,” one student told HRW.
The Magahat Bagani
Force operates in Surigao del Sur province. After the 1 September killings,
provincial governor Johnny Pimental blamed the military for backing the
paramilitary group, telling reporters: “The military created a monster”.
Both paramilitary
outfits are comprised of people recruited from indigenous communities.
What role does the military play?
Captain Alberto
Caber, a spokesman for the military’s Eastern Mindanao Command, denied that the
army is supporting paramilitaries and accused the NPA of pitting factions of
Lumad communities against each other.
“Lumads are deceived
by the communists through their recruitment efforts. For every five NPA
members, four are Lumads from eastern Mindanao,” Caber told IRIN. “It is the
communists who orchestrated everything that led to conflict within the
communities.”
International rights
groups as well as Filipino organizations such as Karapatan dismiss the idea
that there is no link between the army and groups like Magahat and Alamara.
Karapatan said it has documented the relationship between the military and
Alamara going back to 2002.
Even the justice
secretary, de Lima, linked the groups to the army in her statement on Sunday,
repeatedly mentioning “paramilitaries” and promising “a conclusive probe on
their supporters who fuel their criminal operations and acts of violence”.
The UN special
rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons, Chaloka Beyani,
has also expressed concern about links between the Armed Forces of the
Philippines (AFP) and paramilitaries. After visiting the region in July, he
reported that indigenous people “described to me their concerns including their
alleged forced recruitment into paramilitary groups, known as Alamara, under
the auspices of the AFP”.
Why target schools?
Schools run by
religious and nongovernmental organisations have borne the brunt of attacks, as
paramilitaries accuse them of indoctrinating students with communist ideology –
a charge repeatedly denied by educators.
“The paramilitary
group harasses them into joining, and if they refuse, then they say ‘Ah, you
are a (communist) rebel’,” Kharlo Manano of the Salinlahi Alliance, an NGO that
has been trying to help affected children back to school, told IRIN.
Is there hope for a credible investigation?
Phil Robertson,
HRW’s deputy director for Asia, said he welcomed de Lima’s pledge of a sweeping
investigation into the activities of paramilitary groups and their backers. But
he pointed to a history of military impunity and said the investigation would
fail unless it resulted in paramilitary leaders being tried in civilian courts.
“The government has
promised big before, and then failed to deliver,” he told IRIN. “So it’s
important to make sure the justice minister delivers on this promise and
ensures no opportunity is missed to hold accountable those responsible.”
IRIN is an independent news service providing
new and analysis on humanitarian affairs.
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