Free Kim Gargar Campaign

Scientist group Agham (Advocates of Science and Technology for the People) denounced military maneuvers that clearly aim to delay the proceedings of physicist Kim Gargar’s case.

Previous case hearings were all postponed due to different circumstances. In the most recent hearing on March 25, the complainants from the military have again failed to show up and produce their witness and testimonies.

“The case has dragged on for more than 17 months despite the prosecution’s weak and unsubstantial evidence. The military has time and again inhibited the progress of the case. This is obviously a form of harassment on the part of Kim Gargar and his family, designed to wear him down and keep him from doing his duties,” said Noel Jalmasco of Agham and spokesperson of the Free Kim Gargar Movement.

Kim Gargar, a former University of the Philippines professor and PhD candidate of Groningen University in the Netherlands, was conducting a rehabilitation study in Brgy. Aliwagwag in Davao Oriental, a typhoon-Pablo devastated area, before elements of the 67th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Military came and arrested him on October 1, 2013 after a crossfire between the military and the New People’s Army (NPA).

The military insisted that he is a member of the rebel group and was charged with two cases of attempted murder, violation of Comelec gun ban and illegal possession of explosives.

Friends and networks of Kim, including Prof. S. Poppema, President of Groningen University has written letters to President Aquino attesting that Kim is incapable of such criminal acts but the letters were unheeded.

“The four criminal cases were already found by the court to be unsubstantiated by a strong evidence and failed to justify the illegal arrest and detention. The Illegal Possession of Explosives is a non-bailable offence but Kim was released on bail owing to weak evidence. Yet, the military insists on their persecution,” said Jalmasco.

Gargar was released on bail August last year. The hearings are being conducted in the Municipality of Baganga, Davao Oriental, which is 6-hours away from Davao City, where Kim Gargar, his defense attorney, and the support groups are based.

“Delaying the trial not only prolongs the psychological impact on persons involved in the case but also drains the defendant’s meager resources, a substantial amount of which is wasted on travel. More importantly, it is also a crime committed not only to Kim but also to the marginalized people whom Kim is serving as a people’s scientist. These people have long been victims of neglect by the government and instead of supporting the advocacy of Kim to help these people, they vilified him by filing trumped-up charges .,” said Jalmasco.

Jalmasco furthered, “The military could not produce a credible witness yet there are additional five murder cases they intend to pursue.”

During the time Gargar was detained, a few days after his illegal arrest, he was charged with five (5) counts of Frustrated Murder before the Office of the Provincial Prosecutor of Davao Oriental. However, the court downgraded the charges to four (4) counts of Attempted Murder and one (1) count of Frustrated Murder due to insufficiency of evidence. On August 1, 2014, the legal counsel of Gargar already submitted to the DOJ a petition for review to dismiss the cases but until now, the DOJ still hasn’t release its decision.

According to Jalmasco, “The arrest and filing of trumped-up charges against volunteer scientist Kim Gargar is a matter of great concern for many field scientists, researchers and members of the academe. The incident highlights the plight of many individuals who go to the rural areas to render valuable services for environmental and community needs but are vilified and harassed by military elements.”

“The brazen human rights violations under Aquino’s so-called daang-matuwid are crimes against the Filipino people. Just as the military is persistent on maligning Kim and propagating the culture of impunity, we will continue to call on the dropping of charges against Kim Gargar and upholding the rights of scientists and other political prisoners who have dedicated their lives to serving the poor and underprivileged. If the Aquino government cannot do this, we think it is but fitting to call for the President’s replacement,” ended Jalmasco.

Reference:
Noel Jalmasco
Advocates of Science and Technology for the People
Spokesperson, Free Kim Gargar Campaign
09175240580

Our mailing address is:
Free Kim Gargar Now!
127B Scout Fuentebella Street
Brgy. Sacred Heart, Quezon City 1103
Philippines

“The reports of both the PNP Board of Inquiry and the Senate on the Mamasapano carnage side-tracked the seven civilian casualties during the Mamasapano carnage and the hundreds of residents who were displaced during the operation. They, too, were victims of the US-Aquino’s botched Oplan Wolverine/Exodus. They, too, should figure in in BS Aquino’s accountability,” said Karapatan Secretary General Cristina Palabay.

From the initial 1,500 residents who fled their homes in the aftermath of the Mamasapano botched operation, the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao’s Humanitarian Emergency Action and Response Team (ARMM-HEART) now counts at least 72,585 persons displaced from the 11 municipalities where Aquino’s follow-up operations, tagged as all-out war, is going on since February 25. Most of them left their homes and are now cramped in evacuation centers — sick, hungry, and traumatized.

The findings of the peace mission conducted by the People’s Council for National Unity, Reforms and Peace (PCNURP) said a 42 year old, 3-month pregnant mother with 10 children “expressed uncertainty of life if the war continues.” The woman said “one of her children collapsed in the middle of the volley of fires because of fear and could not talk anymore.”

Boyong Unggala, a 36-year-old farmer from Barangay Madia, was hit by a stray bullet on his forehead while sitting in the balcony. The military strafed the house where he was temporarily staying. Farhannah Abdulkahar, 25, and a resident of Brgy. Dapiawan, Datu Saudi, also evacuated when their houses was indiscriminately fired. Her left leg was hit by stray bullet.

“For almost two months now, the residents in Mamasapano and the neighboring communities are on the run to save their lives as the military bombarded their communities. But their condition in the evacuation centers is not much different,” said Palabay. She cited the peace mission’s report that even those who participated in the peace mission at Brgy. Dapiawan experienced the “gun fires and loud explosions from mortar shelling” on March 11.

“Another team assigned in Brgy. Madia was alarmed when during the psychosocial activity for children and adults and documentation, three 6×6 trucks loaded with elements of the 8th Mechanized Battalion and two military tanks arrived in an open space beside the barangay hall near the evacuation center and without any notice to the civilians and barangay officials present in the area, immediately mounted two 81mm mortars,” the peace mission report stated.

Palabay said, “Aquino’s all-out war should be immediately stopped. It is nothing but a diversionary and face-saving tactic and does not help in ferreting out the truth on the Mamasapano fiasco. It has only added up to Aquino’s dismal human rights record as numerous human rights violations were documented by the peace mission.”

Among those documented cases include forced evacuation and divestment of properties due to indiscriminate firing, shelling of mortar (81mm & 105mm howitzer) and aerial bombing by OV10 Bronco planes; destruction of properties; frustrated extra judicial killings; harassment and intimidation of civilians; military encampment in public and religious structures. The military operation has also disrupted the classes of pupils and students in the communities.

The peace mission was held on March 10-13 through the initiative of the Suara Bangsamoro and Kawagib Moro Human Rights Alliance with the findings of the People’s Council for National Unity, Reforms and Peace (PCNURP).

http://www.karapatan.org/BOI-Senate+report+on+Mamasapano+downplayed+civilian+casualties

Reference:
Cristina “Tinay” Palabay
Secretary General
+63917-3162831

Angge Santos
Media Liaison
+63918-9790580

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PUBLIC INFORMATION DESK
publicinfo@karapatan.org
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Alliance for the Advancement of People’s Rights
2nd Floor Erythrina Building
#1 Maaralin corner Matatag Streets
Central District, Diliman
Quezon City, PHILIPPINES 1101
Telefax: (+63 2) 4354146
Web: http://www.karapatan.org

KARAPATAN is an alliance of human rights organizations and programs, human rights desks and committees of people’s organizations, and individual advocates committed to the defense and promotion of people’s rights and civil liberties.  It monitors and documents cases of human rights violations, assists and defends victims and conducts education, training and campaign.

The Commission on Appointments once again confirmed the promotion of Gen. Aurelio Baladad. Although we are not totally surprised, we are deeply disturbed since Gen. Baladad  figured prominently in the illegal arrest, detention and torture of the Morong 43 health workers in 2010.

Both the Commander-in-Chief and Chief Executive, who recommended the promotion, and the Commission of Appointments, which confirmed the appointment, simply ignored this well-known fact.  It is also distressing that Gen. Baladad was able to obtain a clearance from the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) despite an outstanding complaint before it and the pendency of human rights related cases against him.

That military generals and officers who were involved in human rights violations are being promoted left and right and given responsible positions in the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) is reflective of the lack of sincerity and seriousness of the moribund Aquino administration to curb the continuing impunity in the country.

It is also a telltale sign confirming that human rights violations were, and are still, committed as a systematic scheme to get rid of those whom the government perceive to be “enemies of the state,” and those who effectively implement the scheme are continuously rewarded with promotions and juicy positions, and are being coddled even beyond retirement, like what they are extending to the greatest butcher of them all, Gen. Jovito Palparan.

In the meantime, victims and relatives, victims of human rights violations and human rights defenders are waiting in vain for justice to be meted out against the perpetrators.

Gen. Baladad was promoted twice since 2010. He was a colonel when he supervised the illegal arrest and search of the Morong 43, and now, he is a lieutenant general.

On the other hand, the cases filed by his victims, especially that of the Morong 43, are gathering dust in the court dockets. The civil case for damages has not even gone through pre-trial conference  three years after it was filed, and the criminal complaint for torture against him, former president Arroyo and top military and police officers has yet to be resolved by the Ombudsman despite having been submitted for resolution more than a year ago.

All these confirm once again that serious and unresolved questions on a public officer’s human rights record does not matter at all. Up to now, the likes of Gen. Baladad have yet to fully and satisfactorily explain their role and knowledge in these rights violations.

The shimmer on his stars blinded those who collectively put him up there. But not all stars are clean and bright. #r

Reference:
Ephraim B. Cortez
Asst. Secretary General  for Legal Services
0917546 5798

Atty. Edre U. Olalia
Secretary General
+639175113373

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