From the Philippine Daily Inquirer (Jan 25): Rights group hits abductions of Moros
A Moro human rights group on Friday decried what it described as fresh cases of
enforced disappearance against Muslims suspected of being terrorists amid
President Aquino’s signing into law of the Anti-Enforced, or Involuntary
Disappearance Act of 2012 last month.
Abdulbaser Datumanong, coordinator of Kawagib (Rights) for the Zamboanga,
Sulu and Tawi-Tawi areas, said this week alone, two apparent cases of enforced
disappearance had taken place here and in Basilan.
Datumanong said Muin Hamja, 40, was forcibly taken by alleged policemen on
suspicion of being an Abu Sayyaf member in Barangay Kumalarang in Isabela City
in Basilan around 2:30 p.m. on Thursday.
Hamja’s abduction, he said, took place as the Muslim community and rights
advocates were protesting Tuesday’s kidnapping by state agents of Sheikh Basher
Mursalun in Barangay Labuan. Mursalun, he said, is an Islamic scholar, who is also the principal of a
madrasah (Arabic school) in this city.
As in Mursalun’s case, Datumanong said Hamja’s family had searched for him
the whole day on Thursday. Police and military authorities in Basilan told him
they did not have him.
Detained
“However, a concerned citizen sent a text message to Kawagib with information
that Hamja may be detained at the regional police headquarters in Zamboanga
City,” Datumanong said. The Western Mindanao police office has not issued a statement on the claim.
Datumanong said it was not the first time that Hamja was victimized by
enforced disappearance, which, under the law that President Aquino signed last
month, is now a criminal offense. “The first was during the crackdown against the Abu Sayyaf in Basilan in
October 2001 but [he] was released later for lack of evidence,” he said.
Hamja’s brother, Muhammadiya, who was also allegedly forcibly abducted by
state agents during the said crackdown, was released after four years. He was
taken in again in 2008 and remained locked up at the Basilan provincial jail up
to this day, Datumanong said.
“Kawagib is on alert for a possible start of another crackdown on Moro men on
suspicion of being Abu Sayyaf members,” he added, citing the cases of Hamja and
Mursalun.
Sheikh Jamal Munib, chair of the National Ulama Conference of the Philippines
for Western Mindanao, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi, said Muslim religious leaders here
could “vouch for his (Mursalun’s) integrity and we know he is completely
innocent of any imputation of [involvement in] criminal or lawless activities.”
“His contributions to the government in terms of civic and religious
activities are even worthy of commendation,” Munib said.
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/347125/rights-group-hits-abductions-of-moros
As I mentioned in an earlier post, Kawagib Moro Human Rights Center is a CPP-associated Moro-based human rights front that appears to be headquarted in Cotabato City but has several chapters active in other locations in Mindanao.
ReplyDeleteKawagib is one of several Moro-based CPP front groups. Other CPP Moro-oriented fronts include: (1) Suara Bangsamoro (Suara-Voice of the Moro People), a group that was at one time a party-list political party that ran several congressional candidates during elections in 2004 that now seems to function more as a sectoral organization focused on Moro issues; (2) Liga ng Kabataan Moro (LKM-League of Moro Youth), a front focused on Moro youth but appears to consist mainly of university/college students; Moro Christian Peoples Alliance (MCPA), a cause-oriented front that appears to be centered on enhancing Moro-Christian understanding/cooperation; and (4) Khaddija (the name of well know wife of the Prophet Mohammad), a sectoral front for Moro women that is closely aligned with the CPP national-level women's front organization GABRIELA (General Assembly Binding Women for Refom, Integrity, Equality, Leadership, and Action).
CPP efforts to recruit and expand its influence in the "Moro sector" has been only marginally successful. Membership in the above groups is limited and cross-membership between the groups is not uncommon.
As an added comment, Kawagib seeks to pin the disappeance of the two Moros mentioned in the statement above on state security forces. This is part of the consistent thematic content in CPP front group propaganda that is aimed at discrediting the PNP and the Philippine military and by extension the Philippine government. All of this inspite of the fact there is little concrete evidence at present that the Philippine military was involved in the disappearance of either Hamja or Mursalun. Their disappearnce could just as easily have been blamed on clan feuds or some personal vendetta but that would not fit the not so hidden agenda of Kawagib.
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