An international media watchdog group threatened to "again refer the matter" to the United Nations if the perpetrators in the Nov. 23 Maguindanao massacre are not punished. Reporters Sans Frontieres (Reporters Without Borders/RSF) made the call in the wake of Justice Secretary Alberto Agra's decision to clear two Ampatuan clan members of murder charges relating to the gruesome massacre.
"We hope that the purpose of the political will displayed after the massacre on this crucial matter for the international credibility of the Philippines was not just the immediate impact. We therefore urge you to reinforce the resources available to the judicial system and to guarantee its independence so that the trial will be exemplary and so that the massacre’s instigators as well as its perpetrators can be punished," the group said in an open letter to Mrs. Arroyo signed by RSF secretary general Jean-François Julliard. "If you do not do this, Reporters Without Borders will again refer this matter to the United Nations, in particular, to the UN Human Rights Council," it added. The text of the letter was posted on the
RSF website. "Your government’s decision to withdraw certain charges against Zaldy and Akmad Ampatuan, brothers of the leading suspect, has dismayed the families of the victims and journalists’ organizations. Nearly 200 people, mostly members of the Ampatuan clan and their militias, have been charged in connection with the massacre but many of them have still not been detained," the RSF also said in its letter to Mrs. Arroyo. RSF lamented that impunity has reared its head in many other cases of journalists murdered in the Philippines, and not just in the Maguindanao massacre. It also voiced worry that two relatives of prosecution witnesses in the massacre had been recently murdered. "Violence of this kind is liable to intimidate those who have agreed to testify against the perpetrators and instigators of the massacre," it said. RSF also voiced support for families of the victims who it said have rightly asked for the trial to be postponed until after the coming elections to avoid any political exploitation of this very grave case. "We regard this as a legitimate request. Former governor Andal Ampatuan Sr., whose son, Andal Ampatuan Jr., is on trial, was one of your political supporters in the last general elections," it said. RSF also cited information reaching it indicating the leading suspect’s brothers continue to finance their private militia, receiving their lieutenants and giving orders from their places of detention. They have also hired a score of lawyers tasked with using a range of procedural devices to obtain a light sentence for Andal Ampatuan Jr., it said. In pushing for an end to impunity, RSF said that while the culture of violence cannot explain everything, "it is the culture of impunity, for which the government highest officials are partly responsible, that has allowed the killers and those who gave them their orders to execute so many journalists in all parts of the country." RSF also noted the 57 slain Filipinos, including 32 journalists, were massacred by militiamen of one of Mrs. Arroyo's political allies in Maguindanao. "With the families of the victims struggling to cope with very difficult situations, it would be wise for your government to order the confiscation of some of the Ampatuan clan’s property so that the proceeds from its sale could be distributed among the affected families," it said. "Our organization also voices its support for the call made by the families of the victims for demonstrations today throughout the country to demand justice," it added.
— LBG, GMANews.TV 
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