Rights group: Ampatuans killed more people in 20 years

UPDATED 6:50 p.m. - An international human rights group claimed that members of the powerful and controversial Ampatuan clan in Mindanao were allegedly behind the killings of at least 56 people in the last 20 years. In a 96-page report released on Tuesday, the Human Rights Watch (HRW) said the Ampatuans were allegedly responsible for more than 50 incidents of killings, torture, sexual assault, and abductions. The HRW report, titled "They Own the People: The Ampatuans, State-Backed Militias, and Killings in the Southern Philippines," was reportedly based on more than 80 interviews. The report tackled how the clan used their private army and huge arsenal of artillery to secure government posts in the region. "For two decades the Ampatuans committed atrocities with a ‘private army’ manned by police and soldiers carrying government-supplied weapons," said James Ross, legal and policy director of the HRW. In its investigation, the HRW found that at least 56 other killings, apart from the November 23, 2009 massacre, were linked to the Ampatuans. Of these killings, 36 were allegedly perpetrated in public places and in broad daylight. "These perpetrators, while committing serious abuses, rarely made an effort to conceal their identity," the report said, adding that the assailants rarely wore bonnets (balaclavas). While some witnesses can identify the perpetrators, most of them only called the attackers as "Ampatuan's men," the HRW said. These "men" from the Ampatuans' private army, allegedly included members of the local police, Special Citizen Armed Force Geographical Unit (Special CAFGUs), Civilian Volunteer Organizations (CVOs), and Police Auxiliary Units. "What all of these individuals have in common, besides an allegiance to the Ampatuans, is an official status conferred by the government of the Philippines," the group said. Partly to blame? HRW alleged that the administration of former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo was partly to blame for the power amassed by the Ampatuans over the impoverished part of southern Philippines. Arroyo now represents the 2nd district of Pampanga at the House of Representatives. "The Ampatuans’ rise and expansion was aided by the president at the time of the massacre, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, who relied on the family for crucial votes and for support in the protracted armed conflict with Moro armed groups in Mindanao," the HRW said in its report. HRW said under the Arroyo administration, there allegedly had been an "increased sale of military weaponry to local officials." The group said the Maguindanao massacre could have been avoided if the Arroyo government stemmed the growing influence and power of the Ampatuan clan. “The Maguindanao massacre was not an aberration, but the foreseeable consequence of unchecked killings and other serious abuses," Ross said. HRW accused Arroyo of allegedly ignoring calls to solve extrajudicial killings in the country. "The administration also failed to address impunity for serious rights abuses: in 2002 Arroyo was directly notified of 33 killings allegedly perpetrated by the Ampatuans, but she took no apparent action," the group said. GMANews.TV, in a text message, asked Len Bautista-Horn, spokesperson of Arroyo, for comment but has not received a reply as of posting time. Meanwhile, Andal Ampatuan Jr.'s lawyer Sigfrid Fortun refused to comment on the the HRW report, saying that he was only serving as legal counsel for the former Datu Unsay mayor's current multiple murder case, and not on any other matter. "I cannot assume they will get me to help them in other cases which may be filed against them," he told GMANews.TV in a text message. Stop being a part of the problem HRW also called on the administration of President Benigno Aquino III to "stop being part of the problem" and to intensify efforts to disband all private armies in the Philippines. Months before Arroyo stepped down from office in June this year, the government formed the Zeñarosa Commission in January to identify all private armed groups in the country and to recommend measures towards disbanding them. Of the 196 accused in the Ampatuan multiple murder case, more than 60 are reportedly members of the provincial and regional police, while others are militiamen. High price to pay A police officer quoted in the HRW report claimed that becoming a high-level police officer in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) has its price. “You can’t be installed as regional director if you don’t go along with the policies of the [Ampatuan] government. [A police officer] has to give at least 50 weapons [to the Ampatuans] in order to become a regional director, including M14s, M16s," said the police officer, who was not identified. Lodging a complaint against any member of the powerful clan, especially its patriarch, was allegedly also of no use, said a resident of Mamasapano, who reportedly witnessed the killing of his two relatives. “We were afraid to file [criminal complaints] because during that time all government agencies were under the Ampatuans’ control. No one dared to file a case as people look at Datu Andal Ampatuan, Sr. as... the little president," the unnamed resident was quoted in the report. Not guilty Andal Jr., the prime suspect in the Ampatuan massacre, and 40 others have all pleaded not guilty to the charges lodged against them. Since the trial proper for the Ampatuan massacre began in September this year, the prosecution has so far presented five witnesses. Silence the witnesses In the same report, the HRW said it interviewed Suwaib Upham on March 9, 2010. Upham earlier surfaced in the media as "Jesse" and applied for the government's Witness Protection Program in Manila. However, he failed to be admitted into the program and was killed in Maguindanao three months later in June. According to the report, Andal Jr. allegedly ordered Upham (called "Upahm" in the HRW report) to kill his (Andal Jr.'s) driver, who allegedly witnessed the killings but did not comply with instructions to remain in hiding. "I shot him two times with my baby M203 [short-barreled M16 with grenade launcher] in barangay Dicalongan, Ampatuan, in an area planted [with] bananas and coconuts," Upham said. Upham also claimed that the Andal Jr., the former mayor of Datu Unsay town, allegedly also ordered the killing of two other witnesses to the massacre. Maguindanao massacre The Maguindanao massacre, also known as the Ampatuan massacre, occurred on November 23, 2009 in Ampatuan town in Mindanao's Maguindanao province. At that time, the massacre victims were on their way to file Esmael Mangudadatu's certificate of candidacy for Maguindanao governor. Mangudadatu, the vice-mayor of Buluan town at the time of the massacre, eventually won the gubernatorial race in the May 10, 2010 polls. The 57 people who were killed and buried in a mass grave in Ampatuan town included Mangudadatu's wife, his two sisters, as well as journalists, lawyers, aides, and motorists who were witnesses or were mistakenly identified as part of the convoy. — VVP/RSJ/JV, GMANews.TV