PHILIPPINES: Soldiers torture and shoot a farmer dead in front of his family

ISSUES: Torture; extrajudicial execution
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Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is writing to inform you about the recent torture and killing of a farmer in front of his family. The soldiers, who were on a military operation, assaulted and tortured the victim so that he would confess to being a member of a rebel group. The man repeatedly protested his innocence and the soldiers shot him dead at close range.

CASE DETAILS: (According to information from the Task Force Detainees of the Philippines (TFDP) and the Bangsamoro Center for JustPeace)

On June 3, 2009 Bai Markay and her husband Katog Sapalon, a farmer and charcoal maker, were preparing breakfast when soldiers arrived. It was around 7:30am. According to Bai Markay five heavily-armed men, who later identified themselves as soldiers on a military operation, approached them and began interrogating Katog, who was outside their house cooking fish. The soldiers wanted Katog to confess his involvement with a rebel group, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). They punched and kicked him while asking questions, using their fists and feet, and the butts of their armalite rifles.

Katog rushed to embrace his daughter Saida, but as he held her the soldiers continued to punch his left shoulder and pushed him away from her, towards the back of their house. Though Bai Markay pleaded with the soldiers, telling them that he was not an MILF member, they shot Katog at close range in front of his family, hitting several part of his body and killing him instantly. The shots shattered his left eye and fractured his head.

After the shooting Bai Markay asked that she and her children be allowed to leave, but the soldiers initially refused, then told her that she would have to be accompanied by a soldier. However she was eventually able to go freely to the house of her sibling nearby. After several hours they saw the soldiers taking the victim's corpse away; they borrowed a water buffalo (carabao) to transport it. Bai Markay warned her children not to talk about what had happened.

Katog’s corpse was seen being taken to the detachment of the 6th Infantry Battalion (IB), Philippine Army (PA) in Barangay Gubat Datu, Odin Sinsuat by witnesses, and this was later confirmed when a village chairperson went to the camp to claim the body. That person then turned it over to his family and the corpse was buried on the same day, according to Muslim tradition.

Katog was the family breadwinner and was about to enroll his three children at the Datu Butukan Elementary School in Barangay Gubat, Datu Odin Sinsuat. He farmed corn and produced charcoal. Their house in Barangay Makir is about two to three kilometers from the Poblacion (town center) area, in the municipality of Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

On June 5, 2009, the Bangsamoro Center for Justpeace in the Philippines (a non-governmental organisation which documents cases of human rights violations in Central Mindanao) followed this case up with the head of the municipal Police Station in Datu Odin Sinsuat. They learned that the incident has not even been recorded in the police blotter (log).

The acting head of the police station said that they did try to retrieve the victim’s corpse from the soldiers' custody at the military camp but that the soldiers had prevented them. The police are supposed to have primary jurisdiction in the community where the incident took place, claim not to be aware of the overall military operation that has sent many of the villagers to evacuation centres.

The police have yet to investigate Katog's torture and murder.

SUGGESTED ACTION:

Please write letters to the government asking that they ensure a swift and impartial investigation into the murder of Katog Sapalon. The five soldiers should be identified and held to account. The victim's family should also be given compensation and provided with proper rehabilitation for trauma. Protection should also be made available to them should they require it.

The AHRC has also written letters to the Special Rapporteurs on Extra-judicial, Summary, or Arbitrary Executions and on the Question of Torture asking for their intervention into this case.