US group says Philippine death squad killed 298

US group says Philippine death squad killed 298

Philippine policemen stand guard in Manila on Wednesday. (AFP)

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Published — Thursday 22 May 2014

http://www.arabnews.com/news/574646

MANILA: A US-based human rights group said Wednesday that a “death squad” targeting criminal suspects in a southern Philippine city was organized by a former mayor and was responsible for nearly 300 killings in recent years.

Human Rights Watch said in a report that it had documented at least a dozen of the 298 killings from January 2007 to March 2013 based largely on accounts of former hit men, witnesses, relatives of victims and police officers in Tagum City, the capital of Davao del Norte province.

Former Mayor Rey Uy denied the allegations and said they were based on testimony coerced and paid for by drug dealers and illegal gamblers.

Human Rights Watch said President Benigno Aquino III has largely ignored the killings.

Presidential spokesman Herminio Coloma said Aquino had “affirmed the government's commitment to render justice to victims of extrajudicial killings dating back to those that were perpetrated in previous administrations.”

Coloma said cases that were dismissed by prosecutors were ordered refiled by Aquino and that “interagency work to complete case buildup that will meet the standards of judicial proof will be pursued vigorously.”

Phelim Kine, Human Rights Watch's deputy Asia director, said there was “compelling evidence” against Uy, who reportedly called the targets — suspected drug dealers, petty criminals, street children and others — “weeds” that had to be uprooted in a “perverse form of crime control.” Death squad members who have quit were also targets, Kine said.

“The Tagum death squad's activities imposed a fear-enforced silence in Tagum City that allowed the killers and their bosses to literally get away with murder,” Kine said in a statement released by Human Rights Watch after it released its 71-page report.

The statement said Uy, his close aides and police officers had “hired, equipped and paid for an operation that at its height consisted of 14 hit men and accomplices” since his first term as mayor in 1998. His son lost the election to succeed him after he stepped down in 2013.

Aquino has “failed to condemn local anti-crime campaigns that promote or encourage the unauthorized use of force to rid city streets of 'undesirables,'” the human rights group said.

The group said that according to a former death squad member, hit men were paid 5,000 pesos ($110) for each killing. Uy personally paid the hit men on at least two occasions, Human Rights Watch said.

Uy laughed off the claim. “Everybody knows the house of the mayor, and they come soliciting help for this and that problem. It is easy to point to the mayor,” he told The Associated Press.

He suggested that the killings were “vengeance” from the victims of the criminals and rivalry between crime gangs.

“Certain individuals here coerced the so-called witnesses, gave them money to make up stories,” he said.

“They don't want me to return to power because if I come back, they will lose their businesses,” he said, adding that he plans to run again in the next election.

Human Rights Watch said the death squad also was responsible for the killing of a journalist, a judge, two police officers, a tribal leader, local politicians and businessmen. Uy apparently was unaware of these killings or was told by “handlers” of the gunmen that the victims were involved in drugs to justify the attacks, it said.

Human Rights Watch

Open Society Foundations was a funder for the Human Rights Watch.

Note: George Soros is the founder & chairman for the Open Society Foundations, a director emeritus at Refugees International, was the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society, a benefactor for the Human Rights Watch, and a benefactor for the Harlem Children's Zone.

Foundation to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Human Rights Watch, the Harlem Children's Zone, the International Rescue Committee, the Brookings Institution (think tank), Refugees International, and the Committee for Economic Development.

Maurice R. Greenberg was a benefactor for the Harlem Children's Zone, the chairman & CEO for the American International Group, Inc. (Bailout Company), is the founding chairman for the U.S.-Philippine Business Committee, an overseer at the International Rescue Committee, and his sons are Evan G. Greenberg & Jeffrey W. Greenberg.

Evan G. Greenberg was the president of the American International Group, Inc. (Bailout Company), is Maurice R. Greenberg’s son, & Jeffrey W. Greenberg’s brother, and an overseer at the International Rescue Committee.

Jeffrey W. Greenberg was the VP for the American International Group, Inc. (Bailout Company), a trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), is Maurice R. Greenberg’s son & Evan G. Greenberg’s brother.

Michael H. Armacost was the president of the Brookings Institution (think tank), and a U.S. ambassador for the Philippines.

Frank G. Wisner was the vice chairman of external affairs at the American International Group, Inc. (Bailout Company), a U.S. ambassador for the Philippines, and is a director emeritus at Refugees International.

Mark Malloch-Brown was the vice chairman for Refugees International, and is a co-chair for the International Crisis Group.

Fidel V. Ramos was a board member for the International Crisis Group, the president of the Philippines, and is an advisory board member for the Wheelchair Foundation.

George Soros is a director emeritus at Refugees International, a board member for the International Crisis Group, the founder & chairman for the Open Society Foundations, and was the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society.

Open Society Foundations was a funder for the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank), and the Committee for Economic Development.

Foundation to Promote Open Society was a funder for the Committee for Economic Development.

Stuart E. Eizenstat is a director at the Atlantic Council of the United States (think tank), a lobbyist for the Philippines, and was a trustee at the Committee for Economic Development.

Stephen W. Bosworth was a U.S. ambassador for the Philippines, and is a trustee at the Committee for Economic Development.

Donna S. Morea was a trustee at the Committee for Economic Development, and the EVP for the CGI Group Inc.

CGI Group Inc. was the Obamacare contractor that developed Healthcare.gov web site.

Obamacare is Barack Obama’s signature policy initiative.

Catherine B. Reynolds is a trustee at the Committee for Economic Development, and an advisory board member for the Wheelchair Foundation.

Fidel V. Ramos is an advisory board member for the Wheelchair Foundation, and was the president of the Philippines.

Mikhail Gorbachev is an advisory board member for the Wheelchair Foundation, the founder of Green Cross International, was the general secretary for the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, and the president of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR).

Global Green USA is a US affiliate for Green Cross International.

Patricia E. Mitchell is a board member for the Global Green USA, and was a director at Human Rights Watch.

George Soros was a benefactor for the Human Rights Watch.