Dear friends,
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) writes to inform you that the eight military men, including a sergeant, who are charged of homicide for the death of a couple nearly three years ago in Tagum City, Mindanao, have already been arraigned. This is a significant progress following years of delay in the case. The pretrial conference is scheduled on 6 September 2007. The AHRC asks you to take part in the conference. The AHRC will also keep closely monitoring this case.
UPDATED INFORMATION:
On 31 July 2007, accused Sergeant Serafin Jerry Napoles and his subordinates Private first class (PFCs) Mark Sabellano, Rodel Bacangoy, Jupil Balilihan, Eusebio Entero, Niel Araneta, Ugsod and Sumogoy, entered a plea of not guilty when arraigned at the Regional Trial Court (RTC), Branch 31 in Tagum City.
The court earlier set the arraignment on June 26 but had it postponed when the three accused, Sabellano, Bacangoy and Balilihan, did not appear in court. They were turned over to the police by senior military officers on 21 May 2007, after arrest warrants had been issued on them. They were granted bail. When the arraignment was first scheduled, five other accused have not yet been in police custody.
According to the information received from Task Force Detainees of the Philippines (TFDP-Mindanao), the remaining accused, including Sergeant Napoles, were later turned over by their senior officers after a repeated follow-up for them to act on it. The five accused eventually posted bail after they were turned over.
As describe in our previous appeal (UP-076-2007), even though the court had already issued an arrest warrant in December 2006, the police and victims’ families had an extremely hard time to locate the accused and arrest them. The military’s leadership is allegedly not fully cooperative in turning over their personnel.
The AHRC urges human rights activists and groups concerned to closely monitor the progress of the trial. The case is already set for pretrial conference on September 6 before Judge Danilo Belo of RTC, Branch 31.
For further details about the death of Bacar Japalali and his wife Carmen, please read our previous appeals: UA-72-2005, UP-130-2006 and UP-151-2006.
The respondents had allegedly attempted to negotiate with the victims’ relatives to settle the case outside the court using third parties.
The AHRC is gravely concerned with the lack of protection for the victims’ relatives, in particular Bacar’s brother, Talib and his family. We are also unaware of any arrangement to ensure their safety. The absence of this placed them in the possibility of violence and threats, which would adversely affect the pursuit of the case.
Thank you.
Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (ua@ahrchk.org)
