PHILIPPINES: Disappearance of four persons; one of two torture victims found dead in separate incidents in Mindanao 

PHILIPPINES: Extra-judicial killings, brutal torture, enforced disappearance, a need for an enabling law on torture and disappearance; impartial and independent investigation; collapse of rule of law
————————————-

Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) deeply regrets to inform you regarding the enforced disappearance of four persons and the brutal torture of two others–one of whom was found dead in separate incidents in Mindanao on August and October 2006. This is yet another incident of pattern of abduction and subsequent disappearance perpetrated by unidentified armed men riding in getaway vans without license plate numbers.

According to information received from human rights group Task Force Detainees of the Philippines (TFDP-Mindanao), on August 28 three men, namely Ali Barabato (29), Ismael Sarip (or Orak) (29) and Datu Abubakar (or Jojo), allegedly members of Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), were believed to have been abducted by military forces. It was around 10am when the three victims were seen by a witness near a stall of used clothing in Lizada, Boulevard, Davao City.

According to a witness identified as Bapa or Uncle, three victims arrived at the stall after riding on a passenger vehicle. He said that one of the victims, Ali Barabato, greeted him. He later noticed a man wearing a white t-shirt and jeans had called-up Ali and his two companions. The three victims were last seen inside a tinted white L-300 van together with the person who called them up.

Three days after the three went missing, on August 31, one of the victims, Ali Barabato, was found dead along the shoreline in Barangay (village) Aumbay, Island Garden City of Samal, Davao del Norte. It was a news report that led to the family’s discovery of the victim’s body. They then rushed to the funeral parlor where the victim’s wife, Alma, confirmed the body was that of her husband. He was identified by a mole on the forehead.

According to Alma her husband’s body bore traces of brutal torture. His hands were tied behind his back with wire. His body and his legs were also wrapped with it. He also had a gunshot wound at the upper section of his forehead and three gunshot wounds on his neck.

In another case, on October 19, another person attached to a Kalagan tribe, Cadir Malaydan, was abducted and forcibly disappeared. Cadir was with his wife Sitti riding on a motorcycle on their way home. It was around 10:45am when they notice that a color green L-300 van was tailing at them along Purok 1, Barangay (village) Poblacion highway, Monkayo, Compostela Valley. The place of incident is located close to two adjacent police outposts.

According to Sitti, when they come close to the van that later stopped at the roadside, the van’s doors suddenly opened and four persons wearing bonnets, some in fatigue uniforms and others in civilian clothes, suddenly emerged and dragged her husband towards their van. The armed men aimed their weapons at the couple telling them to halt. Two of whom were armed with M-16 rifles while the others had .45 caliber pistols.

Sitti recounted that the armed men forced her husband towards the van. During the scuffle, Sitti fell to the ground. She saw her husband being forced sit inside the flooring of the get away van. When she tried to get up to follow her husband, another man hooded with bonnet and clad in fatigue pants immediately restrained her. An armalite rifle was also aimed at her. She was instead told to run instead but she ignored him. Minutes later, the van sped off towards an unknown direction.

On October 22, another former member of Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), Edgar Sabdula (36), was forcibly abducted inside his residence in Purok 1, Uyanguren, Tigatto, Buhangin District, Davao City. It was about 12:15 midnight when unidentified number perpetrators wearing combat shoes, hooded with bonnets and armed with long firearms barged into their house. At the time, the perpetrators used three vehicles: an L-300 van colored blue, white and unidentified one, without plate numbers. Sabdula had two children. His wife Haide was present during the incident. His whereabouts remained unknown to date.

On October 24, an Arabic teacher, Ustadz Habib Darupo (or Sonny), went missing for a night after he was forcibly abducted near a public market in the Municipality of Banaybanay, Davao Oriental. It was around 4pm when Ustadz Darupo was riding on his motorcycle together with his companion, Rahim. They had just finished attending the caravan for celebration of the Ed’l Fit’r when attacked by armed men hooded with bonnets.

Ustadz Darupo and Rahim were on their way to the market when a color gray L-300 van blocked their way. Four persons wearing bonnets alighted from the van and forcibly took Ustadz Darupo. One of the perpetrators was armed with an M-16 rifle. Rahim was able to escape as he ran fast. Although Ustadz Darupo briefly managed to break loose, but his feet fell into a canal. One of the armed men caught up with him, pulled his head and hit his two arms. He was dragged towards the van. His feet were tied with a rope and blindfolded with packing tape.

While inside the van, he was brutally tortured while being interrogated as to the whereabouts of a certain Ustadz Hamid. The victim’s driver’s license, identification card and Seiko diving watch was taken from him. After about 30 minutes, Ustadz Darupo sensed that the tire of the vehicle exploded and he was transferred to another vehicle. The victim revealed to his brother that he was tortured for about three hours inside the van blindfolded.

On the following day, October 25, at around 11am, Ustadz Darupo, was released in Tagum City. He was blindfolded while in the perpetrator’s custody. After he was disembarked from the van, he was told not to stand. After several minutes his blindfold removed but he was not able to see who his abductors were because they already left. His wallet was left with P200 peso bill, which he used to pay for his transportation in going home.

SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write letters to the concerned agencies for their intervention to ensure that an immediate and impartial investigation is conducted into these cases. All means must be exhausted to locate the whereabouts of disappeared victims namely Ismael Sarip, Datu Abubakar, Edgar Sabdula and Cadir Malaydan. Their respective families must be actively involved in any investigations or actions taken by concerned agencies. The perpetrators into the killing of Ali Barabato must be identified by way of conducting effective forensic investigations. Immediate and appropriate intervention must also be afforded to Ustadz Habib Darupo. He must likewise be afforded with adequate medical and counseling assistance for the trauma he experienced.

Please also urge the Department of Justice (DoJ) for them to seriously consider affording protection and security to the witnesses and relatives of the victims as provided by Witness Protection, Security and Benefit Act (RA 6981). This is very essential to effectively prosecute these cases.

 

 

 

To support this case, please click here: SEND APPEAL LETTER