21 Mindanao bombings claim 80 lives, injure 345 under GMA watch;
86,686 victims of human rights violations

Received from a friend. Information that doesn't really make it on the Filipino Channel:

Press Release
December 10, 2003

21 Mindanao bombings claim 80 lives, injure 345 under GMA watch; 86,686 victims of human rights violations

The Initiatives for Peace in Mindanao (InPeace Mindanao) today said they have tallied a total of 21 ?mysterious? bombings that have claimed 80 lives and injured 345 others in Mindanao, and counted some 85,000 victims of human rights violations perpetrated by State authorities under the Gloria Macapagal Arroyo administration.

Atty. Beverly Selim-Musni, InPeace Mindanao convenor and member of the Mindanao Truth Commission which conducted a series of independent fact finding missions across Mindanao cities, said the human rights situation in the island is ?grievously alarming? and
that ?accusations of state-sponsored terrorism need to be seriously investigated by Congress and international human rights bodies with these staggering statistics.?

The 21 bombings tallied were those which occurred at the Davao International Airport and Sasa seaport, the blasts in General Santos, Koronadal, Maguindanao, Cotabato, Kidapawan, and other municipalities in Mindanao. Of the 80 killed, about 40 of these were victims of the Davao blasts which also injured hundreds.

InPeace Mindanao has considered these bombings mysterious? because the masterminds are yet to be ascertained. Following the expose of a group of young military officers, resigned defense secretary Angelo Reyes and Brig. Gen. Victor Corpuz have been tagged as alleged masterminds of the Davao bombings.

?Many groups are looking into the possibility that the state has a hand in these bombings,? Musni said. She said many of the 85,000 victims of human rights violations were due to forced evacuations in North Cotabato as a result of the all-out war against the Buliok Complex in February this year. The number of victims does not include the more than
400,000 evacuees from Central Mindanao whose documentation InPeace Mindanao is yet to receive. The group is also yet t o receive documentation on human rights violations in
Jolo, Tawi-tawi, and Basilan.

A total of 21,686 individuals were victims of massacres (59), summary execution (39), physical assault (89), harassment (5,495), food blockade (8,721), illegal arrest and detention (67), forced disappearances (24), forced evacuations in non-Moro areas (5,287),
frustrated murder, illegal searches, rape, denial of medical attention, denial of decent
burial, and destruction of properties.

Atty. Concepcion Brezuela of InPeace-Central Mindanao Region said data from the Integrated Mindanao Association for Natives based in North Cotabato counted some 2,966 families still living in evacuation camps in Pagalungan and Pagagawan towns, Cotabato province.

All human rights cases tallied cover the period January 2001 up to December 6,2003 or the time since Pres. Arroyo assumed the presidency until this week, shortly before the world commemorates the 55th anniversary of the signing of the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights.

InPeace noted that these statistics are partial as they have yet to tally cases coming from Central Mindanao and other Moro regions. It also noted that human rights cases from the Caraga region are incomplete because the office of the human rights group Karapatan in the region lost all files last year when it was ransacked by elements believed to be military agents.

?If we are able to retrieve all these other documentation, the statistics would actually be higher,? Musni said.

The human rights tally which was conducted during a two-day fact finding session in Butuan City last December 6-7 came from various non-government sources including justice and peace desks of Christian churches, Moro organizations, and human group Karapatan. The TruthCom also received the human rights reports of some regional offices of the Commission on Human Rights. Musni said the identified perpetrators of these human rights violations are led by various units of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, the MilitaryIntelligence Group (MIG), Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG), Internal Security Unit (ISU), paramilitary CAFGUs, other military intelligence agents, and police authorities.

InPeace Mindanao noted that human rights groups in Mindanao have expressed alarm over increasing harassments perpetrated by the military against people?s organizations, including those in urban areas.

Musni said that there is concern towards state-sponsored urban terrorism? as judicial processes are being circumvented by police and military authorities and vigilante groups. Examples of these units and groups, she said, are Task Force Davao and other composite
task forces in various cities in Mindanao, the Davao Death Squad, the Alamara and other Lumad vigilante groups allegedly armed by the military. She said legitimate people?s organizations are being placed under surveillance and have complained of being harassed by armed men believed to be intelligence agents.

InPeace Mindanao said they are concerned over human rights violations directed against church people, noting that outspoken church leaders and religious are being harassed and witch-hunted. It cited the case of Italian priest Fr. Fausto Tentorio of the Diocese of Kidapawan who was hunted down by Lumad CAFGUs while visiting a mission area in Arakan Valley, North Cotabato. It also cited the case of Sr. Mary John Dumaug, a good shepherd nun, whose literacy and health programs in San Luis, Agusan del Sur have
earned the ire of the military who are have alleged that Dumaug?s projects siphon finances from the European Union to benefit the New People?s Army.

?Under the Arroyo watch, we have witnessed a dramatic increase in human rights violations. It is also under this government when a pattern of bombings has become very visible and felt in Mindanao,? Musni said.

The Mindanao Truth Commission is yet to come up with its preliminary Findings and analysis on the bombings and the trend in human rights violations. A series of fact finding missions have already been conducted in General Santos, Butuan, Cotabato, Cagayan de Oro, and Davao.

Musni said the group is also going to undertake a quantification of
indemnification due for these human rights victims.

For reference:

ATTY. BEVERLY SELIM-MUSNI
Convenor/ 09209235800