Group to urge CHR to file cases vs soldiers in Sulu massacre

MANILA, Philippines - A party-list group will hold a protest rally on Thursday at the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) headquarters in Quezon City to urge the agency to file criminal and administrative charges against suspects of the Feb. 4 massacre that killed eight people in Sulu. In a joint statement on Wednesday, Party-list Anak Mindanao (AMIN) and the Manila-based Bangsamoro National Solidarity Movement (BANGSA) accused soldiers of the Western Mindanao Command of the Philippine Army as perpetrators of the massacre that killed eight civilians including two children and a pregnant woman in Ipil village in Maimbung, Sulu. The statement quoted CHR Western Mindanao Regional Office report on its probe as saying “From all indications, the February 4, 2008 Barangay Ipil incident is a clear breach of human rights of the victims." AMIN and BANGSA disputed soldiers’ claims that the incident was a legitimate encounter, and that one soldier was even killed in the clash. The soldiers’ claims “cannot hold water in view of the witnesses’ separate accounts that the civilians were directly fired at and pursued without let-up, however halted when several of unarmed residents died as result. More so, while at it (firing directly at the fleeing civilians) all were shouting at the top of their lungs “Tama na! Mga civilian lang kami! (Stop firing! We are civilians!) the CHR report said. In an obvious attempt to cover up, the Western Mindanao Command of the Philippine Army conducted its own investigation and after that, Westmincom’s inspector general on February 27 cleared the government troops of any accountability. But on February 28, Westmincom Chief Lt. Gen. Nelson Allaga said they have not cleared yet the soldiers involved in the incident. Fearing a whitewash on the case, members of AMIN and BANGSA have decided to troop to the CHR head office to press for the immediate filing of cases against the soldiers involved in the “massacre." AMIN and BANGSA said that their “picket" is also intended to show support for the CHR probe report, recommending among others, the filing of criminal and administrative charges against soldiers involved in the killings. - GMANews.TV