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By Sam Mediavilla, Reporter
Officers of the Armed Forces of
the Philippines allowed, tolerated and even encouraged political
assassinations, according to the Melo Commission.
The Melo report, released a day
after a UN special rapporteur’s harsh critique on extrajudicial
killings, warned that the government could not sit back and ignore
the mounting murders.
It urged President Arroyo to
“reiterate in the strongest possible manner her expressions or
pronouncements of determination and firm resolve to stop the
same.”
The solution, the commission
stressed, starts with the President, “who must pursue the
prevention and prosecution of extrajudicial killings with urgency
and fervor.”
In a nod to militants’ fears of
reprisals, the special body also emphasized the need for prompt and
sustained investigation of killings by an agency independent from
the AFP.
President Arroyo appointed the
special body to investigate the killings following an outcry from
nongovernment organizations, church groups and international rights
bodies.
Damning report
Even though militants spurned its
hearings, the commission still found enough evidence to produce a
damning report on military culpability.
The inquiry found there was “no
official or sanctioned policy” on the extrajudicial killings and
that there was “only circumstantial evidence” to link elements
of the military to the murders.
“However, there is certainly
evidence pointing the finger of suspicion at some elements and
personalities in the armed forces … as responsible . . .
undetermined number of killings by allowing, tolerating, and even
encouraging the killings,” it said.
The 86-page report submitted by
Supreme Court Justice Jose Melo found retired general Jovito
Palparan liable for many of the killings due to command
responsibility.
It said summary executions spiked
in areas that Palparan oversaw.
The retired general, the
commission noted, admitted offering “encouragement and
inspiration” to killers of activists. But Palparan said he did not
order the killings.
Palparan, on the possibility that
his men killed civilians suspected of being NPA sympathizers, said:
“It is their call.”
Neutralized
The special body said Palparan
and the AFP chief, Gen. Hermogenes Esperon, also stressed that they
considered activists and party-list groups as “enemies of the
state” that had to be “neutralized.”
The officers told the commission
the latter term did not necessarily mean execution.
But the special body said
Palparan’s numerous public statements, recorded on film or relayed
through print media, gave the “overall impression that he is not a
bit disturbed by the extrajudicial killings of civilian activists,
whom he considers enemies of the state.”
“He admits having uttered
statements that may have encouraged the said killings. He also
obviously condones these killings, by failing to properly
investigate the possibility that his men may have been behind
them.”
Palparan, the commission said,
also refused to give a categorical denial on the charge that his
command had “special teams” that abducted activists in the dead
of night.
Philippine forces have been
battling for decades against communist insurgents who effectively
control parts of this vast island nation, and say rights groups
ignore the numbers of people killed by the guerrillas.
“While the killings are
certainly not attributed to the military organization itself, or the
State, but only to individuals or groups acting pursuant to their
own interests, this does not mean that the State can sit idly by and
refuse to act,” the report said.
Lack of evidence
The commission, however, also
blamed activists for not pursuing the cases in the legal system. It
said the lack of successful prosecutions stemmed partly from the
lack of evidence and militants’ refusal to cooperate.
It pointed out that
investigations into media killings were “notably more
successful” than that of activist killings because formal
complaints have been filed.
“Suspects in the media killings
have been named and identified. In activist killings, there have
been a measly number of complaints filed with the authorities,”
report pointed out.
The Melo body also said most of
the cases of agrarian-related killings have pending investigations
or legal action before the authorities and recommended swift action
on these.
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