Philippine massacre clan killed many others: rights group

A Muslim clan charged over the Philippines' worst political massacre killed dozens of other people during a two-decade reign of terror, Human Rights Watch said in a report published Tuesday.

Then Philippine president Gloria Arroyo ignored the many allegations of murder and torture against the Ampatuan family for the final eight years it was in complete control of southern Maguindanao province, according to the report.

HRW released its report ahead of the one-year anniversary of the massacre of 57 people in Maguindanao, for which the Ampatuan clan chief and five other family members have been charged with murder.

The 96-page report documented what HRW alleged were brutal tactics used by the clan as it rose to and maintained power in Maguindanao, a restive province that is home to a long-running Muslim separatist rebellion.

"For two decades the Ampatuans committed atrocities with a 'private army' manned by police and soldiers carrying government-supplied weapons," said James Ross, HRW's legal and policy director.

"The Maguindanao massacre was not an aberration, but the foreseeable consequence of unchecked killings and other serious abuses."

Clan patriarch Andal Ampatuan Snr, his son and namesake, and four other relatives have been charged with murder for the November 23 massacre of the 57 people -- 32 of whom were journalists.

The Ampatuans are alleged to have organised for their militia to carry out the massacre to stop a political rival from challenging Andal Ampatuan Jnr for the post of Maguindanao governor in this year's national elections.

HRW it had spoken to witnesses, including ex-members of the Ampatuan militia, about the murders of at least 56 other people stretching back to 2001, many of them tortured and killed with chainsaws.

The report said Ampatuan Snr, an ex-leader of a paramilitary force trained by the state to fight Muslim rebels, and his relatives engaged in targeted killings, abductions, torture, and sexual assault in and around Maguindanao.

These were aimed at expanding the clan's political power and to avenge perceived wrongs done on family members.

The victims were mostly unarmed civilians and included women and children, according to HRW, which alleged some of the women were raped.

People or families perceived to be aligned with militant Muslim groups, friends and relatives of rivals, one weapons vendor, and a judge were slain, it said.

Some of the killings alleged in the report were committed in retribution for a 2002 Christmas eve bombing that killed one of Andal Snr's sons, Saudi Ampatuan, and 17 other people.

Suspects and their relatives were detained, bound, and personally cut up with chainsaws by senior Ampatuan family members, it said.

HRW alleged Arroyo ignored the allegations against the Ampatuans as she used them to contain Muslim rebels and deliver her votes from Maguindanao in national elections.

"President Arroyo was directly notified of Ampatuan abuses, yet failed to act," the report said.

It said 12 community leaders from Maguindanao wrote to Arroyo in 2002 "alleging that the Ampatuans, their allies, and their paramilitary forces were responsible for at least 33 killings and a number of other abuses".

The Ampatuans were members of Arroyo's then ruling coalition party from 2001 to 2009, and the government funded and armed its private militia of 2,000-5,000 men.

Arroyo was forced to end her alliance with the Ampatuans amid local and international outrage over last year's massacre.

Arroyo, elected to parliament in May after more than nine years as president, had no immediate reaction to the allegations.

Arroyo spokeswoman Elena Bautista said she would not comment on the report.

Arroyo's congressional office was unmanned Tuesday due to a holiday. Her staff told AFP on Monday the legislator had no immediate comment.

While many allegations against the Ampatuans have been made public previously, HRW said its report was based on interviews with 80 people who would have been too afraid to speak if the clan was still in power.

Even so, one of the people who did speak with HRW and had planned to testify against the Ampatuans has since been murdered, illustrating what the New York-based group said was the family's enduring threat.

The Ampatuans have repeatedly denied being involved in the massacre. Their trials are expected to take years to complete.


(2010-11-16/malaysia.msn.com)