Dear friends,
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is forwarding information from the Task Force Detainees of the Philippines (TFDP)-Mindanaw, a human rights non-governmental organization in the Philippines, on the killings of three persons and a wound of one person by the elements of the 60th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army on April 24, 2004 in Compostela Valley Province, Mindanao, Philippines. According to the information we have received, the three military soldiers in plain clothes riding motorbikes fired at the victims in restaurant suspecting them as members of New People’s Army (a communist party). There was no question or inquiry before firing. Your urgent action is required to pressure the government of Philippines to conduct a proper and immediate investigation into this matter and bring the perpetrators to justice without delay.
If you have further questions, please do not hesitate to contact TFDP-Mindanao.
Urgent Appeals Desk
Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)
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URGENT APPEAL
21 July 2004
Task Force Detainees of the Philippines (TFDP) express grave concern on a case of massacre that happened in Northern-Southern Mindanao, Philippines which killed three persons and left one wounded.
The victims, Charlie Davao, Ganadi Pinamaylan, Charlie Utag (killed) and Erning Sagiwan (wounded) were shot by the elements of the 60th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army on April 24, 2004 in Laak, Compostela Valley Province, Mindanao, Philippines.
Charlie Davao, Ganadi Pinamaylan and Charlie Utag were members of a party-list group, Bayan Muna, and belonged to an indigenous people (IP) organization, the Ata Manobo Dibabawon Umayamnon Mandaya Associaiton (AMADU). All three were residents of Brgy Datu Davao, Laak, Compostela Valley Province, Mindanao, Philippines.
Case details:
Three members of Bayan Muna were killed, while another person was wounded when men of the 60th Infantry Battalion shot them on April 24, 2004 at about 3:00 o’clock in the afternoon inside a restaurant in Poblacion Laak, Compostela Valley Province. The three victims, Charlie Davao, Ganadi Pinamaylan and Charlie Utag were immediately killed in the incident while another victim Erning Sagiwan was wounded.
According to a witness Alex Aydao, the barangay captain of Datu Davao, on the morning of April 24 he together with the victims and other residents went to the Poblacion Laak to seek medical help for a sick person whom they brought with them. It was also the time for collecting their compensation in their logging services. They went to a restaurant and ordered some drinks. At around 3:00 p.m., three men in plain clothes riding motorcycles stopped at the restaurant and approached them. The three men immediately fired their guns at them without provocation and shouted, “You are members of the New People’s Army (a communist party)!” All of them scampered to different directions for safety. However, Charlie Utag and Charlie Davao were peppered with bullets that caused their instantaneous death while Erning Sagiwan and Ganadi Pinamaylan were wounded. Ganadi Pinamaylan even kneeled down and asked the three men for mercy but he was shot at close range and died soon on the spot.
Alex Aydao witnessed the incident and begged the armed men to stop firing at them because they were innocent people. He further stated that at first he did not recognize that the armed men were army soldiers since they were in civilian clothes. However, he got to know that they are men of the 60th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army when 2nd Lt. Salcedo and Chief Torres entered the scene just seconds after the gunshots.
Please send letters, faxes and e-mail to following addresses below, particularly to the Commission on Human Rights (CHR). Sample letter is attached below.
1. Ms. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo
President of the Republic of the Philippines
New Executive Bldg.
Malacanang Palace Compound, J. P. Laurel St.
San Miguel, Manila,
PHILIPPINES
Cel#: (+63) 919 8984622 / 917 8398462
Fax: (+63) 2 929 3968
E-mail: opnet@ops.gov.ph, kgma@yahoogroups.com
2. Atty. Alberto B. Sipaco Jr.
Regional Director
CHR region XI office
12 Jose Palma Gil Street
8000 Davao City
Tel: +63 82 226 3840
Telefax: +63 82 221 7504
3. Dr. Purificacion Valera-Quisumbing
Chairperson
Commission on Human Rights (CHR)
SAAC Bldg., Commonwealth Ave.
U.P. Complex, Diliman 1104,
Quezon City
PHILIPPINES
Tel: +63 2 928 5792 / 928 5655
Fax: +63 2 929 0102 / 928 0848
E-mail: drpvq@chr.gov.ph or apnr@chr.gov.ph
4. Ms. Asma Jahangir
Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions
c/o OHCHR-UNOG, 1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Tel: +92 42 5763 234
Fax: +41 22 917 9006 / +92 42 5763 236
Email: webadmin.hchr@unog.ch or asmalaw@brain.net.pk
5. Secretariat of the Working Group on Minorities
UN Sub Commission of the protection and promotion of human rights
c/o Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights
United Nations Office at Geneva
8-14 Avenue de la Paix, 1211 Geneva 10
SWITZERLAND
Tel: +41 22 917 9204 / 9140
Fax: +41 22 917 9010, 9022
Email: wgminorities@ohchr.org
To support this case, please click here: SEND APPEAL LETTER
SAMPLE LETTER
Dear Sir/Madam:
I am writing to raise concern on the killings of three persons and a wound of one person. The three victims, Charlie Davao, Ganadi Pinamaylan and Charlie Utag were shot dead and another victim Erning Sagiwan was wounded by the elements of the 60th IB led by Lt. Salcedo, last April 24, 2004 at a restaurant in Poblacion, Laak, Compostela Valley Province, Mindanao, Philippines.
The incident brought fear and anxiety to all the residents of Laak, Compostela Valley and up to the present, the families of the victims are still seeking justice for the deaths of their loved ones.
In this connection, I urge you to intervene in this matter and conduct an impartial investigation on the circumstances behind this incident so that the perpetrators will be brought to justice.
I also urge Atty. Alberto Sipaco, Region XI director of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR), to conduct a thorough investigation on the case so that justice for the victims be attained. The result of investigation should be relayed to the family of the victims and the development of the case should be informed to them, too.
I look for your immediate action on this matter.
Thank you.
Respectfully yours,
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Kindly inform the undersigned through mail or e-mail should there be intervention/s made on this matter. Thank you and more power.
Ilda Mae G. Montemor
Task Force Detainees of the Philippines
Northern-Southern Mindanao Region
#219 Ponce cor Aurora Sts.
Davao City, Philippines
Tel: +63 82 225-3490
Mobile: +63 9185311655
E-mail:
mindanaw@tfdp.org****
Thank you.
Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC)
