Maguindanao massacre – Page 7

‘It’s like Rwanda’: UN expert on Maguindanao massacre

Published by Ellen on November 30, 2009

by Romel Regalado Bagares

COTABATO CITY.–Peruvian forensic anthropologist Dr. Jose Pablo Baraybar didn’t like what he saw when he visited for the first time Sunday the massacre site in Barangay Salman, Ampatuan town.

Take note of the backhoe with the marking 'Province of Maguindanao'

“It reminded me of something—it’s just like Rwanda,” said Dr. Baraybar after spending a few hours in the area in the company of Commission on Human Rights Chair Leila M. De Lima, British forensic investigator Chris Cobb Smith and lawyers from the Center for International Law (Centerlaw).

Baraybar said the “topography of the crime” in Ampatuan town is eerily similar to that he had found as a United Nations expert serving in the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.

Media groups to GMA: swift justice or resign

Published by Ellen on November 30, 2009

Media groups and journalists call for the resignation of Gloria Arroyo if her government fails to the catch the perpetrators of the Maguindanao massacre and make them accountable for the crime.

Statement of the Nov. 23 Movement

A Challenge of Conscience

The brutal, indiscriminate mass murder on Monday in Ampatuan town, in Maguindanao province, raises the ultimate challenge of conscience. It carries the culture of impunity at work in this country to such levels of horror that, if it remains unpunished for long, can send the nation into an inexorable descent into absolute dehumanization.

The crime thus calls for swift justice, which can only be achieved through a credible and independent process, which in turn can only be achieved without the hand of this government – a government justly mistrusted generally and openly friendly precisely to the very members of the clan accused in the massacre.

We, ourselves colleagues of the more than a score journalists who were killed, demand the following:

The importance of correct handling of evidence

Published by Ellen on November 29, 2009

Last April, I attended a very informative lecture by Peruvian forensic anthropologist Jose Pablo Baraybar on investigating extrajudicial killings and forced disappearances.

Sponsored by the Center for International Law chaired by Harry Roque, the US Department of State and the American Bar Association, the seminar in General Santos City had prosecutors, members of the military and the Philippine National Police assigned in Mindanao as participants.

Baraybar, who has been called on by the Commission on Human Rights to help in the investigation of the Nov. 23 Maguindanao massacre, comes with impressive credentials and solid accomplishment: he helped secure the conviction of former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori for his role in two cases of massacres in the 1990s.

Peruvian who nailed down Fujimori for mass murder to probe Maguindanao massacre

Published by Ellen on November 29, 2009

The Commission on Human Rights is availing of the services of two international experts on investigation of human rights violations to help probe the Maguindanao massacre that killed 57 persons, the worst election-related violence in a highly volatile Philippine elections.

Human Rights Chairperson Leila de Lima said the commission has deputized Jose Pablo Baraybar, a forensic anthropologist who helped convict former Peruvian President Alberto Fujimori for mass murder, to initially ” make crime scene on-site assessment and evaluation.”

She said, “If Dr.Baraybar recommends the exhumation of the bodies for further investigation, we will coordinate with relatives and proper authorities for that.”

De Lima said Baraybar will be assisted by British Chris Cobb-Smith, a seasoned inspector and investigator in trouble spots all around the world. “Smith’s expertise is relevant to our investigation of the November 23 carnage,” she said.

Panagutan ni Arroyo sina Ampatuan at ang kanilang krimen

Published by Ellen on November 28, 2009

Marami ang nakapansin na sa pag-aresto kay Mayor Andal Ampatuan,mayor ng bayan ng Datu Unsay, hindi siya nakaposas. Escorted siya ng mga ahente ng National Bureau of Investigation at kasama rin niya si Presidential Adviser Jesus Dureza.

Sabi ni Justice Secretary Agnes Devanadera sa mga reporter na sumalubong sa kanila s airport, “He is properly restrained.”

Si Andal Ampatuan ang tinuturong nag-utos na pagpapatayin sina Vice Mayor Esmael Mangudadatu at ang kanyang mga kasamahan sa Maguindanao. Ang namatay ay ang asawa ni vice mayor, kapatid at 55 pa. Ayon sa report, 37 sa mga napatay at nawawala pa (hindi pa siguro nakikita ang mga bangkay) ay mga journalist. Ang iba ay mga kasamahan ng mga Mangudadatu at at iba ay talagang namalas lang na nagbibiyahe kasabay ng mga Mangudadatu.

Cory gave Ampatuan patriarch his break

Published by Ellen on November 28, 2009

After Edsa 1, Andal was appointed OIC mayor
Newsbreak

It’s interesting how the Ampatuan clan’s political fortunes seem to be turning full circle—and how political camps that now call them “monsters” seem to have conveniently forgotten that they had something to do with how these “monsters” were bred to begin with.

Liberal Party presidential bet Aquino, sure that violence in Maguindanao would escalate due to “this administration’s inaction,” is demanding the suspension of Mayor Andal Ampatuan Jr. and other local officials found involved in the November 23 massacre of civilians.

Note from Fr. Eliseo “Jun” Mercado:

Datu Andal Sr. was the henchman of Marcos in Maganoy in 1986.. He also was de facto mayor… acting since he was the vice mayor and already appointed as OIC.

Cory removed him from Office!!! I was a witness to that!

The Chief of Police, another Ampatuan yet non political and decent by the name of Datu Mod Ampatuan was appointed by Cory as OIC! I was the one who recommemnded for Datu Modi. He is an Ampatuan so he could maintain order and rule of law being the modest and clean chief of police in the place.

But in the first election post Cory, Datu Andal, Sr was back in power… since he was and still is the undisputed power in Maganoy.

I was the parish priest of Maganoy at the time and NAMFREL chair of the Province.

We don’t know if the senator realizes that he is in effect calling on the Arroyo government to undo an action by his mother’s administration.

Tag: Maguindanao massacre