OPINION

Respect Our Religion By Amirah Ali Lidasan

Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro should listen to UN Rapporteur on Racism about the danger of Islamophobia.

I wish that the UN report delivered by Doudou Diene, United Nations Special Rapporteur on Racism, will strike at the heart of Department of National Defense Secretary Gilberto Teodoro who announced earlier gave signal to the military to continue their offensives despite of the Ramadhan.

In his speech at the UN Human Rights Council this month, the UN Rapporteur commented that media and political leaders in Europe ‘were equating Islam with violence and terrorism’ and some were even seeking to ‘silence religious practices.’

It is so insensitive of the defense secretary not to think about the plight of the Moro people and not to respect our religion and culture. If military operation would push through, it would be difficult for some Muslims to fully observe fasting, as military operation would mean displacement of people, a very strenuous activity for a person who is supposed to refuse food and water the whole day. Not to mention the tension brought about by constant reminder that war is at hand and that a day or so a bomb would fall in their communities or hit people.

More than 24,000 residents of Basilan and Sulu have been displaced because of the military operation directed against Abu Sayyaf men who were accused of beheading ten elements of the Philippine Marines on July 10, 2007.

In the past, the military operations always involve the displacement of families and individuals, sometimes the whole population of one village. Displacement would mean, families expecting their crops to be harvested will find it difficult to come back to their communities, or they risk being hit by shrapnel of bombs. That’s precisely what happened to Sarah Lumandog, a mother of ten-month old baby who was hit on the leg on August --- while trying to harvest her crops in Ulangkaya Pukan town in Basilan, the site where the marines were supposed to find the presence of the Abu Sayyaf.

A Muslim in fasting has to have his or her community with him or her. It is not just about fasting for the whole day but also a community gathering in the evening and a gathering for congregational prayers in the evening until dawn.

Moros in Manila and elsewhere in the Philippines even go home to their provinces in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao just so they could be with their families on September 12, the first evening before the day of fasting, the day that we Muslims cleanse ourselves and pray for our intention to fast for the month of Ramadhan.

Fasting is supposed to cleanse oneself of impure thoughts. Imagine what all the Moro integrees of the Philippine Army are thinking when they are ordered to attack their fellow Moro communities while in fasting? I wonder if Secretary Teodoro and AFP chief Hermogenes Esperon would issue the same war directives during Christmas time.
In the Philippines, it is easy to use the Abu Sayyaf menace and terrorism to mask religious intolerance of some political leaders of our country when it is very clear that most of the anti-terror policies have affected the Muslim’s observance of Islam.

It is still fresh in our minds how the military bombarded a mosque and the houses in Buliok and Pikit in North Cotabato during the Eid’l Adha on February 11 in 2003 as a way to flush out the the Moro Islamic Liberation Front whom then defense secretary Angelo Reyes accused as terrorists. And the eating of roasted in pigs inside a mosque in then Camp Abubakar during a military operation in May 2000 which was supposedly participated in by no less than former President Joseph Estrada.

Our fellow Filipinos are becoming wary of our Mosques and madrasahs (madaris) which are being tagged as terrorist training camps with their ustadz (asatadiz) being accused as terrorists. It is unfair that with the warrant of arrest issued to catch those who beheaded the ten marines, the 15 ustadz who were included could not come forward and clear their names.

It is unfair for Ustadz Tuan Yang in Talipao, Sulu whose face was put in place of the real Abu Sayyaf leader Yasser Igasan in a booklet released by the US troops.

I do hope that Secretary Teodoro and the AFP would give the Moro people a pause in the military operation, even for the duration of Ramadhan. This would mean a lot for our Muslim brothers and sisters, that for a time we were seen first as Muslims than as terrorists here in our country.

Ramadhan Kareem and Ramadhan Mubarak to all!

OPINION

THE MORO PEOPLE HAVE HAD IT WITH ALL-OUT WARS! By Amirah Ali Lidasan

Make Room for Peace, Pull-out troops in Basilan province.

For most of us Muslims who are observing the peace negotiations between the Government of the Republic of the Philippines and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, we are saddened by what is happening in Basilan for the past few weeks.

According to the provincial administrator of Basilan, more than 900 families have been displaced as a result of the added deployment of marines in Basilan in response to the beheading of 10 members of the Philippine Marines who were slain in an encounter with the MILF in Al-Barka town.

Who committed the beheading and why did the perpetrators committed such act is a very controversial and sensitive issue that should have been responded with discretion rather than warmongering. For weeks, it is as if every Muslim has to answer for the act of beheading and Islam is once again put in the limelight and debate.

While the MILF owned their responsibility over the death of the 14 elements of the Philippine Marines. They qualified this as a legitimate one for it was a consequence of the Marines’ forced entry in their recognized political territory in Basilan.

For those who are not familiar with the on-going GRP-MILF peace negotiations, it might be difficult to understand why such territories exist? In previous agreements, the two groups have come to terms about respecting MILF camps and presence to avoid conflicts in these areas – an agreement that is prone to violation.

Since the signing of the ceasefire agreement, the Philippine government under President Joseph Estrada and Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has called a series of all-out wars against the MILF that resulted to thousands of displaced Moro people in Mindanao: the all-out war directed at Camp Abubakar in 2001, the Buliok War and “selective attack” on MILF areas in 2003, and the on-and-off skirmishes between the GRP and the MILF as a result of the military’s “hot pursuit” operations against the Abu Sayyaf.

In the case of the beheading of the marines, series of investigations have been conducted by both the MILF and the local government of Basilan, and both have unearthed previous atrocity of the Marines that might lead to the answers on who and why such beheadings took place: that the military operation did not take place only on July 10 but days before it and that these created “fear and chaos” among the community.

But nobody from the military and the Arroyo administration wants to hear what the MILF or the people in Basilan has been shouting for almost two weeks now -that the MILF is not responsible for the mutilation of the bodies of the marines.

Secretary Norberto Gonzales and the Armed Forces of the Philippines would hear none of these results and the calls of non-government organizations for a stop to the pursuit operations. The bloodthirsty cabinet members and hawks in the AFP are whipping up the public’s sympathy over the beheaded marines and using it as a take-off point in calling for an all-out war against the MILF.

Had Fr Giancarlo Bossi not surfaced in Karomatan town in Lanao del Norte province, the AFP would surely pursue relentlessly the MILF for what they believed was “coddling” Fr Bossi’s kidnappers.

Now, Basilan is once again hostage by more than 5,000 marine soldiers. The 103rd Infantry Brigade of the Army, naval and air forces are also being readied for strike.

Most of the people in Basilan are reminded of the 2001 intensive military crackdown, where 14 battalions from the AFP were deployed and in 2002, a US-RP joint military exercise also took place in Basilan.

Basilan had been black and blue from previous military operations and exercises. Numerous human rights violations were reported: cases of torture, extra-judicial killings and disappearance against what the Arroyo administration believed to be Abu Sayyaf sympathizers and members in Basilan.

The people in Basilan fear this will again escalate into an all-out war. And we people of Mindanao fear that this will spill-over the whole of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

The Moro people have had it with the all-out wars! If the government is true with peace negotiations then it should prioritize its peace agenda in Mindanao. Even the future of peace negotiations was not tackled by the government in the SONA. Her praise for the Philippine Marines obscured the human rights violation record of the marines and the rest of the Philippine military in Basilan.

The Suara Bangsamoro reiterates its call for pull-out of the military in Basilan. Let the cool heads and the peacemakers (if there are still left) in the cabinet come forward and listen to the people’s call for peace and not military operations in Basilan. (SUARA Bangsamoro)

Relatives Of Victims Of Summary Killings To Testify Before UN Investigator

DAVAO CITY (Mindanao Examiner / 16 Feb) – A U.N. representative investigating the unabated killings of political activists in the Philippines is expected to arrive in Davao City to hear testimonies of relatives of victims and those who survived attacks.

Professor Philip Alston, the United Nation Special Rapporteur on Extra-judicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions, was sent by the United Nations because of reports of the many killings in the country believed perpetrated by soldiers, policemen and militias.

Moro human rights groups hailed the coming of Alston. "Prof. Alston’s visit to the Philippines is a big boost to the morale of the victims of extra-judicial killings and their families," said Amirah Ali Lidasan, vice-chairperson of the Suara Bangsamoro Party list Organization.

The group has earlier criticized Manila for its refusal to give Alston a copy of a report by the independent Melo Commission which investigated the summary killings and tagged soldiers in the murders of activists and members of progressive political groups opposed to President Gloria Arroyo’s rule.

"The government’s refusal to give the UN Rapporteur the Melo Commission Report is already a sign that President Arroyo will continue to silence the truth about her administration’s record of human rights violations.”

“No less than President Arroyo and her security advisers are afraid of the facts and conclusions presented at the government created Melo Commission that point to the gross human rights violation record of President Arroyo," Lidasan told the Mindanao Examiner.

Eneko Landaburu, director general for external relations of the European Commission (EC), also asked for a copy of the report, but the government said it is not complete yet.

Lindasan said that as Arroyo continues to deny the culpability of retired army commander Jovito Palparan, linked by the Melo Commission to the killings, and the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police, for over 800 victims of extra-judicial killings -- the less hope the victims and the families have that justice will prevail under the present administration.

Palparan repeatedly denied accusations about his involvement in the killings. "The Arroyo administration has too much skeletons in the closet and would want to keep them from Prof. Alston’s knowledge, hence they keep on finding ways to stop the victims from presenting their case and even continue to vilify the victims of extra-judicial killing and the human rights organizations that present the cases," she said.

Manila said it would establish special courts to handle political killings. But Lindasan said the special courts would be useless because the government continues to deny the culpability of soldiers and policemen involved in the summary killings.

Relatives of the victims of extra-judicial killings of Moro inmates in Camp Bagong Diwa on March 15, 2005 will travel all the way from Basilan island just to give their testimonies to Alston in Davao City. Jumdatul Mundi’s son, Gaffar was one of the 23 inmates killed in Camp Bagong Diwa as a consequence of then Interior Secy. Angelo Reyes’ no-negotiation policy in dealing with the Abu Sayyaf uprising in Camp Bagong Diwa.

"When the mother of Gaffar Mundi heard about the coming of Prof. Alston, it gave her hope that Prof. Alston’s will be a big help in her pursuit of justice for the death of her son," said Lidasan, adding, that it took the woman four years to fight for her son’s release from Camp Bagong Diwa prison and two years to seek justice for the death of her son because of the carnage at Camp Bagong Diwa.

Eleven out of the 23 inmates were victims of illegal arrest and detention and has pending cases of torture against the army headed by General Hermogenes Esperon, then chief of 103rd Infantry Brigade in Basilan island, that arrested them in July 13, 2001.

The Commission on Human Rights has investigated the Camp Bagong Diwa massacre and presented their conclusion a year after which pointed the culpability of the Philippine National Police and Reyes to the extrajudicial killings. Justice Secy. Raul Gonzales disregarded the report about the Camp Bagong Diwa killings, Lindasan said. (Mindanao Examiner)

OPINION: "The Untold Story" By Amirah Ali Lidasan

WHEN I RECEIVED text messages from Jolo about the news that Ustadz Habier Malik of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) had “held hostage” a government peace executive and Major General Benjamin Dolorfino of the Marines, I felt afraid for the people of Sulu.For weeks now, I have been a constant visitor of Sulu.

I have visited members and supporters of the Suara Bangsamoro party-list organization and told them what they have been waiting for years to hear — that despite our loss in the 2004 elections, Suara Bangsamoro will again run in this year’s elections.

In my visits, I observed that while President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and Armed Forces chief General Hermogenes Esperon had been receiving congratulations from US President George Bush for the death of Abu Sayyaf leaders Khadaffy Janjalani and Abu Solaiman, the people of Sulu were indifferent about the issue.

I got the same reactions from the people of Basilan.But when on Jan. 18, the Marines in Jolo reported that they had killed nine Abu Sayyaf men in an encounter in Timpuuk, Patikul town, many Joloanos were angered by the report.

According to the families of those who were slain, they were not Abu Sayyaf but card-bearing members and a commander of the Moro National Liberation Front who were visiting their families in a village very near the Bonbon village, the main camp of the Marines Landing Team 9 in Sulu.

In our interviews with the family, we learned that a 12-year old-kid was shot. Rodimar Julali was merely accompanying his father in a Tamaraw jeepney going to the city to report an incident about the killing of their comrades in Timpuuk. A 90-year-old man, Sarail Jaynatul, was also among the casualties.

This sparked anger from the Tausugs, and even merited an investigation from a joint monitoring group of the GRP (government of the Republic of the Philippines) and MNLF for a week. While investigations were going on and protest from organizations reached the military and the media, the Philippine Marines refused to admit their mistakes and continued to refer to those killed as Abu Sayyaf members.

On Feb. 1, both the GRP and the MNLF presented their reports of what really happened in Patikul on Jan. 18. The next day, the report was also submitted to Ustadz Habier Malik, chairman of the MNLF in Panamao, Sulu, where Camp Bitanag is situated.

When the news broke Friday that Ustadz Malik was holding the GRP team hostage, I was afraid that war will erupt in Jolo and I feared for the lives of my fellow Moro people. They are often misunderstood and often their actions are being capitalized on for war.

As MNLF secretary-general Ustadz Murshid Ibrahim puts it: “Taking hostage of anyone is violative of Islam. It is against MNLF doctrines and principles as a revolutionary organization. Using the word hostage is too harsh and unfair. Ustadz Kahber Malik is a man of peace. He only requested GRP representatives to prolong their stay in Beta’nag for inquiries in view of so many confusing situations going on.”

And the GRP really has a lot of explaining to do. How come they are now targeting MNLF members in their pursuit of Abu Sayyaf?

Why did they arrest six civilians on Jan. 20 in the municipality of Parang and accused them of being Abu Sayyaf?

Families have complained that Julpi Bastillan, ASli Bahari, Gapur Angkijh, Ben Lipae, Boy Lipae and a certain Karam were tortured to admit they were terrorists. After three days, they were released for lack of evidence.

Why was the tripartite meeting in Jeddah canceled? This would have been an opportunity for the MNLF to raise the human-rights violations issues perpetrated by the GRP against their members and commanders in Sulu since 2000.

And, of course, it would have been a venue to raise the issue of the illegal detention of Professor Nur Misuari, the chairman of the MNLF.

Just recently, US ambassador Kristie Kinney and a US diplomat, Karen Hughes, went to Jolo to congratulate the Marines there for a job well done. But did they listen to the Tausugs who had reported about the wounded Tausug woman from Indanan who suffered several wounds in the back because an American soldier “accidentally” fired at her home? Buh Bizma Johan, 45, was washing her clothes in their home in Tagbak, Indanan, when bombs from a nearby military camp in Bud Daju were fired at her place and shrapnel hit her back.

Her case was considered closed by the military and state officials because her family and relatives entered into an agreement with the US soldiers. Her relatives signed an agreement allowing the US soldiers to pay for her medication and moral damages, but there was also the tacit agreement that they should not file a complaint against the US soldiers.

In our talk with her, Buh Bizma even told us that he had been told by the military that she should be thankful that she was being paid a big amount. Had that happened with a Filipino soldier, she would have received a much lower amount, she was told.

Buh Bizma said she was not going to complain because she was more afraid of the repercussion if she went after the Americans.President Arroyo should review her “hands of steel” policy. For while she is boasting of her recent “victories,” the Moro people who are victims of her militarist strategy are not clapping their hands.

There is still no peace in Sulu and the rest of Mindanao. Her military solution undermines the peace negotiations and the Moro people’s resolve to seek justice for victims of human rights abuses. (Amirah Ali Lidasan is the national vice-chairperson of the Suara Bangsamoro partylist organization)