Philippine soldiers murdered hundreds of leftwing activists

By Staff
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MANILA, Jan 30: Philippine soldiers have murdered hundreds of leftwing activists since 2001 and their commanding officers should be held responsible, the head of a commission of inquiry said today.

Jose Melo, a retired Supreme Court justice, told Reuters that ''elements in the military'' were behind the fatal shooting of hundreds of leftwing activists, community workers and farmers.

''It's a small group in the military who are doing these things with the tolerance of some commanders, but it is not the policy of the entire armed forces of the Philippines,'' he said.

President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, who appointed Melo to investigate the murders in August, ordered the Commission on Human Rights and the departments of justice and defence to further probe the involvement of military personnel in the killings and prosecute anyone found culpable.

''I deplore the killings be they from left or right, against journalists or activists,'' Arroyo said after receiving the Melo Commission's report.

''We have a sorry history in our nation of political violence. I aim to stop it once and for all.'' Arroyo called for the creation of special courts to deal with the political killings and asked the armed forces to update its rules on command responsibility.

She also asked the Melo Commission to submit supplemental reports from time to time and said the Department of Foreign Affairs would formally ask the European Union, Spain, Finland and Sweden to send investigators to assist it.

The military, which has a chequered history of involvement in politics, said it was aware that some soldiers were involved in the killings and vowed that they would be dealt with.

''We acknowledge that some members of the armed forces of the Philippines have been involved in the deaths of some members of militant organisations, but we definitely do not condone these,'' military chief Gen Hermogenes Esperon said.

''We will leave no stone unturned in our investigation and we will spare no one, regardless of rank or position. The armed forces of the Philippines assures the public that it does not tolerate nor condone human rights violations.'' Disgruntled officers have been involved in more than a dozen coup plots since the ousting of dictator Ferdinand Mercos in 1986.

The government has traditionally shied away from harsh punishment for renegade soldiers for fear of stirring up further trouble.

Current President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo came to power in 2001 when the military chief withdrew support for her predecessor Joseph Estrada, now on trial for plunder.

A BLIND EYE

Local human rights group Karapatan has said more than 800 people have been murdered in extrajudicial killings since 2001 and 365 were leftwing activists.

Asked how many of the murders were carried out by soldiers, Melo said: ''Most of them''.

Arroyo ordered the retired judge to investigate the shootings after Amnesty International said some members of the security forces could be involved, triggering a storm of controversy last year. She has yet to publish the Melo Commission's findings.

The military and government have previously blamed communist rebels for the murders, saying the New People's Army (NPA) was purging its ranks as it did in the 1980s.

The shootings, often carried out in daylight by masked gunmen on motorbikes, have continued into 2007. Many of the victims were members of groups the military views as fronts for the NPA.

The Philippines, also fighting Muslim insurgencies, has been battling the NPA since 1969 in a conflict that has killed more than 40,000 people. Arroyo declared an ''all out war'' on the communist insurgents last year.

Leftwing groups have said a man they call ''The Butcher'', retired major general Jovito Palparan, was responsible for many of the killings.

Palparan has previously denied the charges. On Tuesday, he told Reuters: ''To me it (the report) is just propaganda. As far as I'm concerned, my conscience is clear.''

Reuters

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