ASIAN HUMAN RIGHTS COMMISSION - URGENT APPEALS PROGRAMME
Urgent Appeal Case: AHRC-UAC-059-2009
http://www.ahrchk.net/ua/support.php?ua=UAC-059-2009
17 June 2009
PHILIPPINES: A labour rights defender is murdered; police shoot two
men in custody
ISSUES: Human rights defenders; extrajudicial killings
Stop Extrajudicial Killings in the Philippines
Dear friends,
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has learned that officers
who shot two men dead in custody have yet to be investigated or
charged, and that the murder of a labour leader has not been properly
looked into after a year.
CASE DETAILS: (According to information received from Philippine
NGOs)
Case One: Alberto Ocampo and Jose Gonzales were killed on 29 April
2009. According to reports gathered by the Kilusan Para sa Pambansang
Demokrasya (KPD) Ocampo and his common-law-wife Imelda Zulueta were
woken by the noise of stones being thrown at their house at around
2am. Voices shouted Imelda, Axis lumabas kayo dyan. Alam naming
andyan kayo, kapag di kayo lumabas ay papuputukan namin kayo
(Imelda, Axis come outside. We know you are there. If you do not come
out we will fire at you).
Ocampo, Zulueta and Jayson Valencia, a visitor at the house, emerged
to find around ten policemen positioned around their house wearing
camouflage uniforms and balaclavas. Their behaviorthrowing stones at
that time of the morningwas already baffling to the three. They were
told to lay face down on the ground, and one of the policemen hit
Zuluetas back and pushed her to the ground. She asked the policeman
not to harm her because she was pregnant.
The policemen then began asking them for the whereabouts of someone
called Axis. At this Jose Gonzales, who goes by that nickname and was
visiting the couple, emerged from the house and was arrested, though
not charged. He was in shorts, and was told that he had until the
count of six to put on a T-shirt or he would be shot.
Gonzales told them that he had surrendered and asked that the case be
settled according to Philippine law, adding that Zulueta and Ocampo
were not involved. The police asked whether he had a gun and he
replied: Sir, matagal na akong nakapahinga, napadaan lang ako dito
(Sir, I have not been active for a long time. I was just passing
by). The police dragged him over to a tree and tied him to it. The
police then dragged Ocampo to the same spot, and as Zulueta struggled
to get to him a policeman told her: Wag kang mag-alala, anuman ang
gagawin namin sa dalawa ay mangyayari din sa iyo (Dont worry,
whatever we do for these two will also happen to you)’.
After a few minutes Zulueta heard several gun shots and saw other
officers searching their house. They returned carrying a gun and a
hand grenade and asked Valencia if they were his; he said they
werent. At 5am the policemen allowed Zulueta to see Ocampo, who was
already dead, lying close to their house next to Gonzales, also dead.
She and Valencia were taken to a police station in Orani and on to
Camp Tolentino where they were questioned and eventually released
without charge.
Zulueta has filed a complaint with the regional office of the
Commission on Human Rights (CHR) regarding the deaths of her husband
and Gonzales but there has been no progress. She has received no news
suggested that their deaths are being investigated.
Case Two: In another incident, labour leader Maximo Baranda was shot
dead in front of his wife at their quarry site in Sitio Quarry, Purok
5, San Jose, Compostela on July 19, 2008. According to Nonoy Librado
Development Foundation (NLDF) his wife Nida has reported that the
four killers arrived at their workplace on two Yamaha DT model
motorcycles. They pretended to be customers and asked the price of
the sand and gravel, then shot him and fled the area.
Baranda suffered seven gunshot wounds to his body, one to the right
portion of his head. Nida and her daughter, Maria Fe, immediately
reported the incident to a local police station but have not received
news of an investigation.
Nida said that her husband had been receiving threats to his life in
connection with his work as the chairman of the Contractual United
Workers Association (CUWA). The circumstances on how the threats were
made have not been made clear so far. Baranda had been helping workers
file complaints against the companies that fired them unjustly. It is
believed that he was targeted due to this.
At the time of his death, Maximo had been advocating and helping
contractual workers of a banana plantation company—the Fresh Banana
Agricultural Corporation—to be taken on as regular employees. He was
also involved in bringing cases of illegal dismissal and violations of
labour standards before the National Labor Relation Commission (NLRC).
SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write letters to the concerned authorities requesting them
thoroughly investigate these murders, and look into the delay in
their investigation. The policemen involved in the murders of Alberto
Ocampo and Jose Gonzales should be subjected to due process, fired and
charged for their crimes.
The AHRC has also written letters to the United Nation Special
Rapporteurs on extra-judicial, summary, or arbitrary executions and
on the situation of human rights defenders
To support this appeal, please click here:
http://www.ahrchk.net/ua/support.ph...
SAMPLE LETTER
Dear __________,
Re: PHILIPPINES: A labour rights defender is murdered; police shoot
two men in custody
Name of victims:
1.Alberto B. Ocampo, 36, tricycle driver
2. Jose Gonzales
Alleged perpetrators: Elements attached to the 303 Police Provincial
Mobile Group (PPMG), Camp Tolentino, Balanga, Bataan, led by Police
Officer 2 (P02) Ricardo Vinluan.
Date of incident: 29 April 2009 at 2am
Place of incident: Sitio Lati, Barangay Kaparangan, Orani, Bataan
Name of victim:
1. Maximo D. Baranda, 47, resident of Purok 6, Maputi, San Jose,
Compostela; chairperson of the Contractual United Workers Association
(CUWA) and a harvester for the Fresh Banana Agricultural Corporation.
He also owned a business supplying sand and gravel for construction.
Alleged perpetrators: Four unidentified men on two Yamaha DT model
motorcycles
Date of incident: 19 July 2008 at 1:30pm
Place of incident: Sitio Quarry, Purok 5, San Jose, Compostela
I am writing to draw your attention to the case of Alberto Ocampo and
Jose Gonzales who were killed on April 2009 by police officers; and
labour leader Maximo Baranda who was murdered by unknown attackers on
July 2008. The AHRC is deeply concerned by the lack of progress made
into the investigation and prosecution of these cases.
When police were arresting Ocampo, his common-law-wife Imelda
Zulueta, and their visitors, Gonzales and Jayson Valencia, no
explanation was given for their arrest. Two of the men were shot dead
while in custody, tied to a tree
Complaints have already been filed before the regional office of the
Commission on Human Rights (CHR). However there has not been any
progress with regard to the investigation of their case. The
policemen who committed the murders, despite having been positively
identified by Ocampos common-law-wife, have not been charged nor
subjected to investigation.
Meanwhile it has been almost a year since the murder of Maximo D.
Baranda, a labour rights defender and I am deeply disappointed by the
lack of substantial progress into the investigation. Although
Barandas wife witnessed the murder the perpetrators remain
unidentified and at large.
The AHRC believes that Maximos murder is related to his work as a
labour leader, and his practice of giving legal aid and practical
help to workers dismissed from their jobs unfairly. He had no known
enemies but had received threats, and the circumstances of his death
fit the pattern of murder of hundreds of other human rights defenders
in recent times.
The victims wife Nida and their daughter, Maria Fe immediately
reported his murder at their local police station, but have received
no new information regarding the case.
The Philippines is becoming notorious for extra-judicial killing,
particularly among its law enforcers. The police and the military in
particular are becoming better known for their vigilante-style
punishments than their ability to uphold the law and follow due
process. This was aptly pointed out in last years Universal Periodic
Review (UPR) by the United Nations Human Rights Councils which
recommended among other things, that it intensify its efforts to
carry out investigation and prosecution on extra-judicial killings
and punish those responsible
Whether a person is a potential criminal, an outspoken journalist or
a human rights defender, under Philippine law their rights are
necessarily the same. But such rights to life, to due process, to
the freedom of speech and the freedom of association are becoming
obsolete
I therefore strongly urge you to intervene and expedite the
investigation into these cases. The policemen involved in arresting
and killing Alberto Ocampo and Jose Gonzales should be subjected to
due process, fired and charged for their crimes. The unacceptable
delays in this investigation should be investigated and steps taken
to prevent such delays in the future. The complainant and witnesses
to this case must also be given protection.
I also demand that the police investigating Barandas murder explain
their lack of progress on the case to his family, and continue to
regularly update them regarding their renewed efforts to find the
perpetrators.
Yours sincerely,
PLEASE SEND YOUR LETTERS TO:
1. Mrs. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo
President
Republic of the Philippines
Malacanang Palace
JP Laurel Street, San Miguel
Manila 1005
PHILIPPINES
Fax: +63 2 736 1010
Tel: +63 2 735 6201 / 564 1451 to 80
E-mail: corres op.gov.ph
2. Ms. Leila De Lima
Commissioner
Commission on Human Rights
SAAC Bldg., Commonwealth Avenue
U.P. Complex, Diliman
Quezon City
PHILIPPINES
Fax: +63 2 929 0102
Tel: +63 2 928 5655 / 926 6188
E-mail: chr.delima yahoo.com or mtm_rodulfo yahoo.com
3. Deputy Director General Jesus A. Verzosa
Chief, Philippine National Police (PNP)
Camp General Rafael Crame
Quezon City
PHILIPPINES
Fax: +63 2724 8763
Tel: +63 2 726 4361/4366/8763
E-mail: bluetree73 gmail.com
4. Ms. Agnes Devanadera
Acting Secretary
Department of Justice (DoJ)
DOJ Bldg., Padre Faura
1004 Manila
PHILIPPINES
Fax: +63 2 521 1614
E-mail: raulgonzalez_doj yahoo.com
5. Mr. Ronaldo V. Puno
Secretary
Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG)
A. Francisco Gold Condominium II
EDSA cor. Mapagmahal St., Diliman
Quezon City
PHILIPPINES
Fax: +63 2 925 0332
Tel: +63 2 925 0330 / 31
E-mail: rvpuno dilg.gov.ph
Thank you.
Urgent Appeals Programme
Asian Human Rights Commission (ua ahrc.asia
)
<http://www.ahrchk.net/ua/support.ph...>
Asian Human Rights Commission
19/F, Go-Up Commercial Building,
998 Canton Road, Kowloon, Hongkong S.A.R.
Tel: +(852) - 2698-6339
Fax: +(852) - 2698-6367