Dear friends,

After terrorizing the province of Mindoro Oriental, the 204th brigade and other units of the armed forces of the philippines are now duplicating human rights violations in the province of Mindoro Occidental.

A 50 man-Quick Reaction Force was sent to the said province to investigate on rights abuses last Jan. 18, 2004. a part of that team which consisted of nine people were harassed, robbed and physically assaulted by armed hooded men who instigated the hold-up.

KARAPATAN believes this was not a simple crime but was meant to harass and scare the group so as not to disrupt military operations in the area.

Recent reports indicate that it is not far-fetched that the military would repeat what happened to Eden Marcellana and Eddie Gumanoy to the QRF that was sent to the area.

*(Eden Marcellana and Eddie Gumanoy was abducted along with an 11 member Quick Reaction Team and then later killed in Mindoro Oriental last April 21, 2003 while conducting investigations of military atrocities in the said province.)

Your URGENT ACTION is NEEDED!

In solidarity,
KARAPATAN-National Office
Alliance for the Advancement of People's Rights
---------------------------------------------------------------

UA Date:                     23 January 2004

UA Title:                      QUICK REACTION FORCE* SENT TO MINDORO OCCIDENTAL, PHILIPPINES HARRASSED!

UA Case:                     Physical Assault, Harassment and Divestment of Properties

I. Victim/s:                     Albert Garcia

• 53 years old

• male

• Barangay Councilor

• A resident of San Juan, Philippines

• A member of SELDA or Samahan ng mga Ex-Detainee Laban sa Detensyon at para sa Amnestiya (Society of Ex-Detainees Against Detention and for Amnesty)

• A member of the Quick Reaction Force to Mindoro Occidental, Philippines

Roald Pascual

• 21 years old

• male

• single

• A resident of Quezon City, Philippines

• A member of DESAPARECIDOS (the Disappeared)

• A member of the Quick Reaction Force to Mindoro Occidental, Philippines

Rosidney Samson

• 17 years old

• male

• single

• A resident of Quezon City, Philippines

• A member of DESAPARECIDOS (the Disappeared)

• A member of the Quick Reaction Force to Mindoro Occidental, Philippines

Espie Paquinggan

• 44 years old

• female

• A member of KARAPATAN-Laguna

• A member of the Quick Reaction Force to Mindoro Occidental, Philippines

Letty Arias

• 50 years old

•  female

• A member of KARAPATAN-Laguna

• A member of the Quick Reaction Force to Mindoro Occidental, Philippines

Imelda Lacandazo

• 36 years old

• female

• A member of KASAMA-TK (a peasant organization based in Southern Tagalog, Philippines)

• A member of the Quick Reaction Force to Mindoro Occidental, Philippines

Julie Ogayon

• 45 years old

• female

• A member of COURAGE (an organization of progressive government employees)

• A member of the Quick Reaction Force to Mindoro Occidental, Philippines

Maricar Juaneza

• 20 years old

• female

• A student from the University of the Philippines-Los Baños

• A member of the Quick Reaction Force to Mindoro Occidental, Philippines

Maricar Cingco

• 19 years old

• female

• A student from the University of the Philippines-Los Baños

• A member of the Quick Reaction Force to Mindoro Occidental, Philippines

II. Place of Incident:        Buhanging Tulay,Marikit, Paluan, Mindoro Occidental, Philippines (less than two kilometers from the COMELEC    checkpoint.)

III. Date of Incident:        22 January 2004 at around 9:15 AM

IV. Perpetrators:              Hooded armed men wearing combat shoes, believed to be members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) based in Mindoro Occidental

V. Account of Incident:

On January 19, 2004 a Quick Reaction Force (QFR) was formed to investigate and get initial information on the reported massive deployment of military troops in the province of Mindoro Occidental, particularly in the areas of Abra de Ilog, Paluan and Mamburao. The military has reportedly caused various human rights violations against the civilians in the area.

In the course of their work last January 22, at around 9:15 AM a nine-man team of the QRF was on its way to Mamburao from Paluan after investigating rights violations by members of the 204th Infantry Brigade, riding a service bus provided by the Provincial Government. The team had wanted to charge their cellphones, call their families and arrange their trip back home after they reach Mamburao.

Soldiers belonging to the 16th Infantry Battalion flagged down the said bus at a COMELEC Checkpoint. A soldier named Robert Pababa entered the bus. He asked for the names of the nine members of the QRF and asked for their IDs. They were stalled for 10 minutes while two other buses, which passed the same checkpoint ahead of them, were allowed to pass without any hitches.

After being allowed to go on their way and after two kilometers of travel, the bus was once again waylaid, this time by hooded and armed men in combat shoes. They stopped at the foot of a bridge.

First to enter the bus were two men with long rifles, another followed them inside carrying a .45 pistol. After scanning the bus, the man carrying the pistol shouted, "Hold-up to!" ("This is a hold-up!") Another man with a long rifle came in the bus. All of them wore hoods out of black and fatigue shirts.

They ordered everyone to put their hands at the back of their heads and to lean over. The armed hooded men took two cellular phones in the possession of Julie. Also taken from her was a shoulder bag, which had first aid medicines and some personal stuff. Likewise taken were Albert's wallet containing P1,500 and several identification cards and a driver's license; P400 cash from Letty as well as P263 cash along with a watch and some pictures from Espie.

When Imelda heard one of the soldiers shout at the driver, she instinctively looked up. When one of the armed men saw this, he immediately shoved down Imelda's head on the bus seat. Likewise, when Rosidney turned to look at one of the armed men, another one hit him on his shoulder with a rifle butt.

Then, suddenly they heard someone shout "Bilis, bilis!" ("Faster, faster!") The driver answered that the keys to the bus was missing, but after a moment, Imelda heard the clicking of keys as it was being thrown to someone.

All this happened in a span of less than five minutes. No other vehicle passed by in the area at that time.

The nine, where aware that there were others outside the bus but failed to see how many were surrounding it. They temporarily stayed in a house in Mamburao and had already reported the incident to the Mamburao police.

* A Quick Reaction Force is a group of 30 or more people immediately responding to an emergency situation, where victims are given immediate relief and/or support and initial data on the incident are also gathered.

RECOMMENDED ACTION:

Send letters, emails or fax messages calling for:

1. The immediate formation of an independent fact-finding and investigation team composed of representatives from human rights groups, the Church, local government, and the Commission on Human Rights that will look into the physical assault, harassment and divestment of properties of the members of the Quick Reaction Force to Mindoro Occidental, Philippines;

2. The prosecution of the perpetrators of the crime of physical assault, harassment, and divestment of properties as well as investigations of other atrocities committed not only by soldiers from the Armed Forces of Philippines (AFP) in Mindoro Occidental but by others as well being employed by the AFP and Philippine National Police (PNP) to commit atrocities against civilians and organized individuals and groups;

3. The immediate and proper indemnification of the family/relatives of the victims; and

4. The Philippine Government to be reminded that it is a signatory of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and that it is also a party to all the major Human Rights instruments, thus it is bound to observe all of its provisions.

You may send your communications to:

H.E. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo
President of the Republic

Malacanang Palace,

JP Laurel St., San Miguel

Manila Philippines

Voice: (+632) 564 1451 to 80

Fax: (+632) 742-1641 / 929-3968

Cell#: (+ 63) 919 898 4622 / (+63) 917 839 8462

E-mail: [email protected] / [email protected]

Hon. Teresita Deles
Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process

7F Agustin Building I

Emerald Avenue

Pasig City, Philippines

Voice: (+632) 636 0701 to 0766

Fax: (+632) 638 2216

Email: [email protected]

Hon. Eduardo R. Ermita
Secretary, Department of National Defense

Camp Emilio Aguinaldo

E. de los Santos Avenue,

Quezon City, Philippines

Voice: (+632) 912-9281

Fax: (+632) 911 6213

Hon. Purificacion Valera Quisumbing
Chairperson, Commission on Human Rights

SAAC Bldg., UP Complex

Commonwealth Avenue

Diliman, Quezon City

Philippines

Fax: (+632) 929 0102

Email: [email protected]