Troops warned vs abuses in Maguindanao

(Updated 5:23 p.m.) Military officials on Sunday warned their personnel against committing abuses in Maguindanao province, which President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo placed under martial law as her administration zeroes in on the suspects behind the massacre there last Nov. 23. Armed Forces chief Gen. Victor Ibrado said the declaration is primarily for the accounting of all suspects in the grisly murder of 57 people, including women and journalists, in Ampatuan town. “We [military and police] have issued a joint directive mentioning the roles of engagement, roles of conduct… to respect the individual rights. No excessive force should be used," he said. Likewise, the Armed Forces Eastern Mindanao Command (Eastmincom) assured that there would be no indiscriminate searches and arrests during the martial law period. “To Maguindanao residents, the military administering the rule of martial law assures that there will be no indiscriminate searches and arrests, and only those having to do with the massacre will be arrested and their house searched," said Eastmincom chief Lt. Gen. Raymundo Ferrer. “Should our soldiers commit abuses, they will be relieved, investigated and punished. I will not tolerate abuses," he added. Complaints Ibrado encouraged Maguindanao residents to file complaints against supposedly erring military personnel so that proper investigation could be conducted. “They [abusive soldiers] will be investigated. If there are complaints and if they are found guilty then they will be meted appropriate punishments," he said. More or less 40 people, including members of the powerful and Arroyo-allied Ampatuan clan, have already been taken into government custody since the imposition of martial law in the province late Friday night. The Ampatuans are blamed for the massacre, the victims of which included members of the rival Mangudadatu clan. Among those taken into custody were Maguindanao Governor Andal Ampatuan Sr., the clan’s patriarch; and Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) head Zaldy Ampatuan. Andal Ampatuan Jr., the prime suspect in the massacre, was arrested last Nov. 26 and is now detained in Manila to face the investigation. Ibrado said despite the arrests, the general situation in Maguindanao remains peaceful. “The people are not panicking. They understand the purpose [of martial law] is to go after those involved in the massacre." MILF The Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), meanwhile, ordered its members to stay in their camps to prevent possible armed confrontation with government troops during the duration of martial law. Maguindanao is a known stomping ground of the MILF, the largest secessionist organization in the country set to resume its peace negotiations with the government on December 8 in Kuala Lumpur. “The martial law is not intended for the MILF, complications might arise in the course of its implementation," an article on the MILF Web site quoted an unnamed "senior front commander" as saying. Toks Ebrahim, chairman of the MILF committee on the cessation of hostilities (CCCH), said he had already discussed with government panel negotiators the implications of the martial law to the ceasefire between the government and the MILF. - with Malu Cadelina Manar/KBK, GMANews.TV