Maguindanao Massacre

(Hong Kong, July 17, 2012) Five months after a prosecutor dismissed the fabricated murder charges on 72 activists for lack of “probable cause,” one of them spoke to the AHRC in an interview. He recounted how a prosecutor allowed a hooded witness to testify in the criminal investigation to prosecute them. When Edwin Egar, a […]

An Open Letter from the Asian Human Rights Commission to Sr. Supt. Generoso Cerbo Jr., spokesperson of the Philippine National Police (PNP) Sr. Supt. Generoso Cerbo Jr. Spokesperson Philippine National Police (PNP) Camp General Rafael Crame Quezon City PHILIPPINES Tel: +63 2 726 4361/ 4366/ 8763 Fax: + +63 2724 8763 Dear Sr. Supt. Cerbo: […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) writes with grave concern that the children of Alejandro “Bong” Reblando, one of the 32 journalists murdered in the November 2009 Maguindanao massacre, have been subjected to overt surveillance in their home in General Santos City. The AHRC is deeply concerned by the targeting of Reblando’s widow […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) writes with deep concern that a community journalist had been threatened for condemning the murder of his colleague in General Santos City. The threats made to him sent via his mobile phone cannot be taken lightly as there had been a pattern of targeted attacks against journalists […]

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is deeply concern about the continued detention of a man that the police have arrested as a suspect in the Maguindanao Massacre in place of the real accuse. The police harassed his common-law wife by threatening her into admitting that her husband and the person they were […]

(Hong Kong, February 28, 2011) The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is publishing this podcast interview with Mr. Bijo Francis, a human rights lawyer from India and programme officer of the Asian Legal Resource Centre (ALRC), regarding his comments and opinion on the trial of the Maguindanao Massacre case.  Bijo has handled numerous human rights […]

It does not take much time for any rational person to agree that the families and the victims of the Maguindanao massacre must obtain justice. Anything less is unacceptable. The sheer evil that the perpetrators demonstrated in killing 57 innocent people, 32 of whom were journalists; and to disappear one person, in the manner that […]

Dear friends, The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) writes to inform you that a farmer, who was last seen being tortured while in the custody of members of a paramilitary unit of the military, has disappeared since January 2010. The perpetrators were formerly members of an illegal armed group before becoming members of the Citizen […]

(Hong Kong, April 29, 2010) In recognition of the work, life and the professionalism of the 32 journalists murdered in the Maguindanao massacre, a group of veteran journalists in Hong Kong had given them posthumous plaque of recognition.  Myrna Reblando, the spokesperson of Justice Now!, the organisation of the families of journalists murdered in the […]

(New York, March 8, 2010) – Philippine authorities should act swiftly to protect eyewitnesses to the November 2009 massacre of at least 57 people in Maguindanao province on Mindanao, and to protect their families as well, Human Rights Watch said today.   Concerns for the safety of witnesses are highlighted by the killings of two […]

(Hong Kong, January 4, 2009) The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is publishing below the full text of the interview made by a radio host with one of the three journalists who had escaped from the November 23, 2009 Maguindanao massacre. In December 2009, the AHRC has invited the person (name withheld for security reasons) […]

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is seeking your support in calling upon the members of the Philippine Congress to revoke Proclamation No. 1959, which has been signed by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and has declared a state of martial law in Maguindanao. It suspends the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus, and […]

One of the journalists worked for over two decades Before the advent of electronic mail, high speed internet connections, and mobile phones, all part of the technology used in transmitting information that we now take for granted, Alejandro Reblando, Bong, to his friends and colleagues, was an eyewitness to what was happening in Mindanao. Indeed, he […]

Dear friends,  The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is closely monitoring the investigation into the massacre in Maguindanao on November 23, which left 57 people dead, among them two human rights lawyers and 30 local journalists. The AHRC is deeply concerned for the safety of three journalists who escaped. More than a week into the […]

(“We don’t care about it, we don’t know about it” – the Acting Head of the Provincial Police)     As it has been widely reported, 57 people-including two human rights lawyers and 30 journalists – were slaughtered on November 23 in Maguindanao, a province in central Mindanao. While much of the stories and worldwide […]