DOJ wants 'terrorist' tag on Abu Sayyaf

The Department of Justice on Thursday announced it is filing a case to outlaw the Abu Sayyaf, an al-Qaeda-linked extremist group based in southern Philippines widely blamed for a wave of atrocities and kidnappings not only in the region but also in Metro Manila. The legal process of attaching the outlaw and terrorist tags is called proscription, which is provided under Section 17 of the Human Security Act of 2007. Under the law, the Department of Justice is tasked to file the case before a regional trial court, which will then declare a group as a terrorist organization or an enemy of the state. The proscription case against the Abu Sayyaf is the first to be filed by the DOJ under the law. A statement from the DOJ quoted Secretary Leila de Lima as saying that the move was based on her department's thrust to protect human rights. "The government has enough evidence to prove that the Abu Sayyaf Group is a terrorist organization and uses violence to terrorize populations... There is fear, a climate of fear, where this group operates in," De Lima said. "Operations and intelligence and legal units from different agencies worked together to establish the Abu Sayyaf Group's pattern of kidnapping, ambushing, pillage in exchange for ransom, money or any benefit that may be expedient to them," she added. Military information chief Lt. Col. Arnulfo Burgos said they have long considered the Abu Sayyaf as a 'terrorist organization,' noting that the group is engaged in banditry and other terror acts, and that the group cannot be classified as a rebel organization "because it lacks political cause." The Abu Sayyaf or al-Harakat al-Islamiya (bearer of the sword), was founded in 1991 in the southern province of Basilan. It has been blamed for bombings, kidnappings, and beheadings. Washington has blacklisted the Abu Sayyaf, which has nearly 400 fighters, as a terrorist organization. Military offensives have killed or captured many of its commanders in recent years, leaving the group splintered into factions. — Sophia Dedace, RSJ, GMANews.TV