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11 DECEMBER 2009

CHR CONDEMNS NEW INCIDENTS OF HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS INCLUDING THE ABDUCTION OF 75 PERSONS IN AGUSAN DEL SUR  

On the day when the rest of the country was celebrating International Human Rights Day, the human rights situation in Mindanao lamentably dipped to new lows. New reports of kidnapping in Basilan of another teacher and the beheading of a kidnap-for-ranson hostage in Sulu, and on the otherside of the second largest island in the archipelago, 75 people in and around a schoolhouse in Agusan Del Sur were taken hostage by an armed band.

The Ondo Perez Gang, a notorious band of former CAFGUs, were on the run from pursuing policemen who were serving arrest warrants. The running gunbattle developed into a hostage crisis when the gang took occupants of an elementary school in Prosperidad, Agusan Del Sur, to stop the police in their tracks.

While several of the intitial 75 hostages had escaped or were released, the latest figures showing that only 45 hostages remain, the Ondo Perez Gang issued a demand that their arrest warrants be revoked and that their rival gang be disarmed.

The CHR Chairperson, Atty. Leila De Lima, said late last night, “We have noted in several public statements and engagements that Northern Mindanao and other regions situated far from the Muslim secessionist movement are not out of danger from human rights violations. This latest incident only underscores our case for heightened vigilance against threats to the security of the people.”

De Lima added, “The on-going situation in Agusan also undescores CHR recommendations that the policy of force multipliers have to be reviewed and possibly even revoked. This is not the first time that we've found former CAFGUs have evolved into criminal elements. If you give high-powered firearms to untrained individuals, fail to hold anyone accountable for these individuals, what outcomes should we expect? We have private armies controlled by political clans, like what we have in Maguindanao. We have renegade groups roaming the countryside. When are we going to put an end to a lack of accountability for this policy of arming civilians who later turn out to become criminals?”

On the demands of the Perez Group, De Lima said, “If it were not for the persisting threat to the remaining hostages, these demands would be outrageous. How can they demand that they not be arrested? They are in flagrante delicto committing a crime! And they want fair treatment under the law, whereby their rivals are first disarmed and arrested for allegedly committing more crimes. A crime is a crime and whoever commits them must be arrested and held to answer for them. No one should be above the law.”

Meanwhile, news outfits report that negotiators are confident that the crisis will come to a resolution very soon. De Lima added, “The safety of the hostages is of paramount importance, and every effort must be made to release them. But local officials in Agusan Del Sur need to be reminded that the resolution of this crisis is not the end of their duties. Ensuring that their constituents are safe from any future incident requires positive action in removing criminal gangs and illegal firearms circulating in the local communities.”