Bu-lat-lat (boo-lat-lat) verb: to search, probe, investigate, inquire; to unearth facts Volume IV, Number 18 June 6 - 12, 2004 Quezon City, Philippines |
Human
Rights Watch
Soldiers Maul Journalist, 7 Others in Batangas
Melvin
Mamis, 27, a correspondent of the alternative multi-media group Southern Tagalog
Exposure, was choked as a soldier of the 20th Special Forces grabbed
his camera. He was forcibly brought
inside the camp where he was repeatedly punched at the stomach. Willy
Solis, a volunteer of the human rights group Karapatan-Southern Tagalog, was
slapped, punched and repeatedly stuck at the nape while being questioned. By
Dennis Espada
Bulatlat.com
STEXposure cameraman Melvin Mamis, Willy Solis, a volunteer of the human rights group Karapatan-Southern Tagalog (Alliance for the Advancement of People's Rights) and three drivers hired by the group said that they were arbitrarily detained, kicked and punched while being interrogated by army soldiers who accused them of being "NPA" (New People's Army) rebels. Two
of their companions, 24-year old Christine dela Cruz of Tanggol Karapatan and
human rights volunteer Dina Castillo, were also detained and interrogated. The
assailants, some of them in plain clothes, did not wear their nameplates
the whole time, witnesses said. The
incident took place when a fact-finding team led by Karapatan-Southern Tagalog
went to the camp at around 2:30 p.m. on May 31 to inquire about the whereabouts
of three suspected NPA guerillas who were allegedly arrested by the military.
The fact-finding team was formed after the families of Sharon Mendoza, Arnel de
las Alas, and Dandy Cuerta approached Karapatan-Southern Tagalog asking for
their assistance in looking for their relatives. Their relatives were allegedly arrested after a reported
"encounter" between the NPA and soldiers of the 402nd Infantry Brigade
last May 30 in Barangay Mabato, also in Rosario. Arbitrary
arrest and manhandling In
an interview with Bulatlat.com, Melvin Mamis related that tensions
started while negotiations between the fact-finding mission team and the
military were still going on. He was filming the negotiations when a soldier
approached him and told him to stop. Another soldier, in plain clothes and
wearing a bonnet, approached the team and took photos of the members. Suddenly,
a soldier tried to seize the video camera of Melvin Mamis. He resisted,
consequently causing a violent skirmish. Melvin
ran toward their vehicle to protect his camera. Three soldiers hit him with
rifle butts while trying to block his path. One of them went inside the jeep and
choked him until he let go of his video camera, which was already broken. Not
contented with this, the soldiers forcibly brought him inside the camp where he
was made to sit on a chair as one soldier punched him repeatedly at the stomach. According
to Melvin, one soldier even remarked in a disparaging way: "Pa
media-media ka pa ha!...'di mo ba alam na bawal magkuha ng video dito sa kampo?”
(You're trying to pose as a media person...don't you know that it is prohibited
to take video footages of the camp?) Asked
who owns the Sony Hi-8 video camera and who ordered him to take footages, Melvin
answered it was his and he did it on his own will. He was slapped on the face. While
this was going on, Willy Solis, a volunteer of the human rights group Karapatan-Southern
Tagalog, was repeatedly slapped, punched, and struck at the nape while being
questioned. Being struck on the nape three times in rapid succession, he said,
was "parang kinukuryente” (like being electrocuted). "Nagdidilim
ang paningin ko noon” (I almost lost consciousness), Solis recalled after
being struck hard on the nape at least 15 times. Solis averred that they were released at about 7 p.m. after being forced to sign a blank paper. They were even threatened. Solis
recalled the soldiers telling them, "Mag-iingat kayo! Pasensyahan na
lang tayo kung magkikita uli tay. Huwag
na kayong babalik dito kundi magkakaalaman na tayo” (Beware! If something
happens to you the next time we meet it will be your own doing. Do not ever come
back or you will find out what is in store for you). The
Karapatan-Southern Tagalog immediately filed a complaint before the local police
so that the incident will be recorded in the police blotter. In the complaint,
the fact-finding mission team said that 21 individuals were physically
assaulted while 62 others were harassed. Blatant
attack In
a statement, the STEXposure condemned the "blatant attack on its members
and correspondents who deeply engages dialogue through their medium in its
resolve to create committed productions." As members of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP), the group asserted that they are a legitimate media organization whose film credits gained recognition in award-giving circles such as the Gawad CCP (Cultural Center of the Philippines) for Alternative Film and Video and were screened in various alternative, local and international venues. Bulatlat.com We want to know what you think of this article.
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