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On 16 June 2009 three human rights lawyers Carlos Zarate, Angela
Librado-Trinidad and Lilibeth Ladaga, filed their petition for
a Writ
of Amparo before the Office of the Clerk of Court (OCC) of the
Regional Trial Court (RTC) in Davao City. The writ is a remedy
promulgated by the Supreme Court (SC) on 25th September 2007 and is
‘available to any person whose right to life, liberty and security is
violated or threatened’.
The petition was submitted with regard to the
leaked PowerPoint presentation which listed the names and identities of
105 persons, including human rights defenders. The document
was marked ‘secret’ and was described as the ‘3rd Quarter 2007 OB Validation
result’ purportedly prepared by the JCICC ‘Agila’ under the office of the
Assistant Chief of Staff for Intelligence of the 10th Infantry Division.
In their petition the lawyers sought for the
documents used in preparation of the PowerPoint presentation to be
produced immediately; that all the facts, information, statements,
records, photographs, dossiers and other evidence, documentary or
otherwise, pertaining to the petitioners be fully disclosed, and that a
temporary protection order be granted to them.
Carlos
Isagani Zarate is the former
president of the Integrated Bar of the Philippine (IBP) in Davao City
Chapter; he is secretary general of the Union of People’s Lawyer in
Mindanao (UPLM) and previously a coordinator for the Free Legal Assistance
Group (FLAG) in Davao City. He also writes a column for the Philippine
Daily Inquirer, a national daily newspaper. In his article ‘O.B.-jections’
he had expressed strong objections to the inclusion of his name and his
fellow colleagues in the document.
The UPLM is an organisation of lawyers’
groups in Mindanao. It also provides pro bono service and legal
assistance to the victims of human rights violations and likewise issued
a statement on this matter: The
AFP’s ‘Order of Battle’: Witchhunting and adulterated lies. The group
has also been vocal of campaigns, not only amongst the killings of
lawyers and judges, but also against the vigilante killings in Davao
City.
One of the numerous cases Carlos has
represented in the past is that of Luisito Bustamante, a farmer whom a
paramilitary group had illegally arrested, held and tortured in a
military camp in November 2007. Carlos and two other lawyers also
assisted Luisito’s relatives in filing a Writ of Amparo which prompted
his release from the custody of the military.
Angela Librado-Trinidad is a human rights lawyer and an activist on women’s
rights. She is an incumbent councilor of the First District of Davao
City. She also worked with a local non-governmental organisation which
provides legal aid to abused women and children. Angela lobbies in Davao
City and neighbouring areas.
Beverly Musni is a human rights lawyer. She is the chairperson of
the Alliance for the Advancement of People’s Rights (KARAPATAN) in
Northern Mindanao, a regional office of this alliance of human rights
organisations. She is also an officer of the UPLM for the Northern
Mindanao Chapter.
In July 2008, her organisation, UPLM, raised
concerns over the surveillance activities she has been subjected to,
noting in a statement that Beverly had been closely monitored by a man
they described to be ‘burly-looking’ whenever she entered and left her
office. At that time the surveillance activities lasted continuously for
a month, however she has repeatedly encountered people following her over
the last two years.
The 1503 Complaint Procedure of the Office of
the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), which is now a Complaint
Procedure of the United Nations Human Rights Council, had previously
conducted an inquiry and took up her case and the cases of other lawyers
who had experienced threats and attacks in the Philippines.
Lilibeth Ladaga is also a member of the UPLM. She is the present
coordinator of the Davao City chapter of the Free Legal Assistance Group
(FLAG).
Zarate and his two
colleagues, Librado-Trinidad and Lilibeth Ladaga, filed their individual
Writ of Amparo petitions on June 16, 2009, after learning that they were
included in the 'Order of Battle' of May 2009. This Order includes a list
of 105 persons, most of them human rights defenders in Davao City, and
suggests their involvement in communist activities. It is widely believed
to have been created by the military.
United Nations Special
Rapporteur Philip Alston in his report dated 16 April 2008 stated: 'Human
rights defenders and trade unionists, along with many other civil society
leaders, appear to be killed due more to their association with leftist
groups than to their particular activities'.
In fact, one of those
mentioned in this document, Celso Pojas, a peasant activist, was killed
on the 15th May 2008. The concern of those mentioned in this list is
rooted not only from Pojas’s murder but also from previous incidents,
wherein subsequent killings have taken place after the release of a
document. For instance, the other power-point presentation document
entitled “Knowing the Enemy” in early 2000s, which mentions the names of
organizations being targeted and accused of colluding with the communist.
As it is in the past, those
who had been killed in recent years are human rights and political
activists who are attached to the organization mentioned in the “Knowing
the Enemy” presentation.
Thus, unless this is done,
those mentioned in the document would be needlessly exposed to
unnecessary risk and subjected to being discriminated against, as no one
has so far been held to account for having their names included in the
list of targets.
Also, if indeed that
document did not come from the military establishment, the government
must categorically reject this document and should initiate measures to
protect these persons. Failing to do so would aggravate the already deep
suspicions of the government’s complicity in this incident. However, the
latter are actions the government has yet to take.
IDHAE is deeply concerned
that unless appropriate and prompt action is taken, the release of this
document would result in needless justification of a person’s abduction
and killing, as has already happened in the past.
TAKE ACTION NOW !
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