Southeast Asia: News, Culture, Voices
New Court Ruling Connects Philippine Government to Disappearances
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James Balao (Photo source: Cordillera Peoples Alliance, http://www.cpaphils.org)
This month, a regional trial judge in Benguet issued a writ of amparo in the case of disappeared activist, James Balao. The judge ordered the government to “disclose where [Balao] is detained or confined [and] release [him] considering his unlawful detention since his abduction.”
Respondents in the case include President Macapagal-Arroyo, Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro and Armed Forces chief of staff, Gen. Alexander Yano. A writ of amparo is essentially a petition to force the government to protect the constitutional rights of a citizen. In essence, the judge’s decision contradicts earlier statements in which the government denied knowledge of Balao’s whereabouts. It puts the responsibility squarely on Arroyo and the other officials named in the case.
Recently, I interviewed Bernadette Ellorin, the Secretary-General of BAYAN USA, on WBAI’s Asia Pacific Forum. We talked about Arroyo’s move to make changes to the Philippine Constitution. Listen to an excerpt of our interivew below.
Balao, the co-founder of the Cordillera Peoples Alliance, was abducted by armed men last September 17. According to his brother, Balao was aware of being under survellience in the the weeks leading up to his disappearance. At the time, the government claimed he was a communist leader – a charge his family and friends deny.
This court decision is part of the larger trend of killings and disappearances under the Arroyo Administration. In 2007, the UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions issued a report that linked the Arroyo government to human rights violations. (Download the PDF report here.) And late last year, the United Nations Human Rights Committee concluded that the Arroyo government was involved in the 2003 murder of Eden Marcellana and Eddie Gumanoy in Mindoro.
Now, despite this significant ruling, the killings and disappearances continue.
Conflict in Gaza Angers Indonesians
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When I visited with religious leaders in Indonesia last November, many of them – even those from the most remote villages – spoke at length about the Israel-Palestine conflict.
Although the leaders had diverse interpretations of Islam, there was one point nearly all of them agreed on: the occupation of Palestine and the embargo on the territories was an affront to Muslims everywhere – and the U.S. support for Israel was always cited as a sore point.
Now, as the current incursion into Gaza stretches into its second week, Indonesians are expressing their outrage.
Indonesian boys at a rally in Jakarta earlier this week. Tarko Sudiarno / JP
The conservative Islamic groups, including the Islamic Defenders Front (FPI), have called for Indonesia to send jihadists to Gaza to support the population there. President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has resisted the call while condemning the attacks and pushing for humanitarian aid instead. He’s called the current conflict a territorial issue in an attempt to de-emphasize the religious aspect of the violence.
In West Java, hundreds of Muslim students rallied outside a McDonald’s, promising to boycott American products unless the Indonesian government sends humanitarian assistance immediately.
And in the port city of Surabaya, protestors sealed off a Jewish synagogue and hundreds more rallied in front of the U.S. embassy.
“If Israel doesn’t stop its attacks on the Palestinian people immediately, we will conduct raids on sympathizers, supporters and Israeli agents in the province,” a rally organizer warned.
Indonesians are also looking to Obama to speak out on the issue. There are some indications that his silence is straining the close bond that many Indonesians feel for the president-elect. See an opinion piece by Bramantyo Prijosusilo here in which he makes the case for Obama to come up with a concrete peace plan for the region soon.
Justice or Intimidation in Munir Case?
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Even after his death, the threats kept coming. On November 20th, 2004, Munir Said Thalib’s widow, Suciwati, received the severed head of a chicken with a note that warned her not to connect the Indonesian armed forces to her husband’s death.
“Do you want to end up like this?” the note asked menacingly.
Munir's widow, Suciwati, after the verdict. Photo by Berto Wedhatama/JP
This past week, the South Jakarta District Court acquitted retired Maj. General Muchdi Purwopranjono – formerly of the National Intelligence Agency – of all charges in the case of Munir’s murder.
“I have already lost my husband,” said Suciwati after the verdict. “Now, I lost justice.”
Munir, a lawyer, founded the human rights group, Kontras, and was known for his pursuit of human rights abuses committed during the Suharto era – a role which earned him plenty of enemies.
Did the warning and the threatening messages finally have an influence?
During the trial, five witnesses revoked their statements in the case. And, as Usman Hamid (the current director of Kontras) points out, prosecuters decided not to include a voice recording connecting Muchdi with Pollycarpus Budihari Priyanto. Pollycarpus, the pilot of the Geruda flight on which Munir was poisoned, was sentenced to 20 years in prison for the murder.
The National Police has said that the investigation dossiers had only been returned by prosecutors once in the lead up to the trial, suggesting that the evidence against Muchdi was solid.
Following Munir’s death in 2004, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono did the right thing by ordering a special investigative team to look into the matter. Now, following the startling verdict, he has “summoned” the National Police chief and the Attorney General for clarification into the decision. With a national election mere months away, the government cannot afford to gloss over this case.
But it remains to be seen if justice can still be salvaged – or if the work of anonymous threats will win out.
