Philippines
23.09.04
Urgent Interventions
Philippines: arbitrary arrest, detention and ill-treatment of Mr. Jomar Torreliza
Case PHL 230904
Arbitrary arrest and detention / Ill-treatment / Risk to personal integrity
The International Secretariat of OMCT requests your URGENT intervention in the following situation in the Philippines.
Brief description of the situation
The International Secretariat of OMCT has been informed by the Alliance for Advancement of People’s Rights (KARAPATAN), a member of the OMCT network, of the arrest, detention and ill-treatment of Mr. Jomar Torreliza, 33, Secretary General of Anakpawis (municipal level), in Mindoro Occidental, the Philippines.
According to the information received, on September 6, 2004, at around 1:00 am, Mr. Jomar Torreliza and his family were violently roused by four armed men, wearing bonnets, civilian shirts, fatigue pants and combat shoes who barged into their home in Barangay Kasage, Santa Cruz, Mindoro Occidental.
The armed men grabbed Mr. Jomar Torreliza and pointed their armalites to him. His wife, Mrs. Mia Torreliza, tried to shout for help to draw their neighbours’ attention and get help from them, but one of the armed men strangled her to make her stop. Mr. and Mrs. Torreliza’s children, who were witnessing these events, were crying in fear.
The armed men kicked Mr. Jomar Torreliza down the stairs and he fell unconscious. Mrs. Mia Torreliza saw her husband being hauled inside a van parked near their house which sped off to an undisclosed location.
According to the information reported, Mr. Jomar Torreliza woke up at around 7:00 am that same day inside a toilet which was situated inside a small hut within a military detachment. He was gagged and blindfolded with a bonnet (which allowed him to peer through), his wrists bound together and his legs also tied up with a thin wire. He was interrogated by three men similarly dressed as his captors and who took turns violently hitting him when he could not answer them properly. He was asked if he knew of an ambush done against a certain “Nene”. Thinking that they were referring to Governor Sato, Mr. Jomar Torreliza answered that he did not know anything about it.
They then allegedly used their armalites to hit him on his stomach, neck, torso, legs and other parts of his body. This lasted for at least thirty minutes and each time he implored them to stop until they finally relented. They agreed to give him a reprieve and warned him that if he still continued to deny their allegations that he was a member of the New People’s Army (NPA), they would cut off his head.
After the men left, Mr. Jomar Torreliza took the opportunity to untie his wrists and legs and run from the military detachment across the fields in front of the place he was brought to. He ran towards the Municipal Hall of Paluan, which was 500 meters from the place where he came from and which he later on realized was a military detachment. There, he found Commander Austria of the local Philippine National Police and sought his help. He then realised that he had been detained in the Municipality of Paluan, two hours away from his home in Santa Cruz.
Shortly after his encounter with Commander Austria, two soldiers, who introduced themselves as Lt. Jericho Malangos and MSgt. Gonzales, came to the police station in Paluan and accused Mr. Jomar Torreliza of being a member of the NPA’s SYP (Samahang Yunit Pampropaganda). Mr. Jomar Torreliza reportedly recognized one of the soldiers as being one of the men who had ill-treated him. Commander Austria asked if they had proof of this claim. When the two soldiers could not produce any, Commander Austria asserted that they had no basis to take Mr. Jomar Torreliza with them and the two soldiers just left.
Mr. Jomar Torreliza immediately requested for his relatives from Santa Cruz to fetch him in Paluan. He spent the night in Paluan before being told the following day that his relatives where on their way to get him. Before his relatives came the next day, on September 7, the two soldiers, Lt. Malangos and MSgt. Gonzales, came back along with a squadron of soldiers from the 16th Infantry Battalion and insisted on their accusation that Mr. Jomar Torreliza was a member of the NPA. Mr. Jomar Torreliza denied the allegation and told them that if there were anything he would admit to, it was the fact that he would allow rebels to eat or sleep in his home when they visited, but that he himself was not a rebel. To which the soldiers replied that if that was the case, then he had to be considered a sympathizer. The soldiers threatened that if he did not cooperate with them something would happen to his family. As a result, he reluctantly agreed and signed a document which the soldiers produced stating that he was a Rebel Returnee.
Before Mr. Jomar Torreliza left with his relatives, he pretended to agree to help the military in their operations against the rebels by providing information to them, but he refused to be recruited as a CAFGU.
When he reached Santa Cruz, he wrote a statement to the Santa Cruz police station, assisted by SPO4 (police rank) Romy Dacdac, stating, out of fear that the soldiers would harm his family, that he did not know his captors. From that point on, he hid with the local policemen in his barangay (the smallest local government unit in the Philippines) before coming out in the open on September 10 and deciding to seek the help from KARAPATAN.
The International Secretariat of OMCT is gravely concerned about the arbitrary arrest and detention of, as well as the harm inflicted on, Mr. Jomar Torreliza. OMCT calls upon the authorities in the Philippines to guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of Mr. Jomar Torreliza and his family and to order a prompt, impartial and thorough investigation into the circumstances of these events in order to identify and bring to justice the perpetrators, as well as provide adequate reparation to the victims of these abuses.
OMCT recalls that these events are in clear infringement of articles 7 and 9 (1), (5) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which the Philippines is a state party, which state that “no one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment [and that] no one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest or detention” and which require that “anyone who has been the victim of unlawful arrest or detention shall have an enforceable right to compensation.”
Action requested
Please write to the authorities in the Philippines, urging them to:
i. take all measures necessary to guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of Mr. Jomar Torreliza and his family;
ii. order a thorough and impartial investigation into the circumstances of the events described above, in order to identify those responsible, bring them to trial and apply the penal and/or administrative sanctions as provided by law;
iii. provide adequate reparation to Mr. Torreliza and his family;
iv. guarantee the respect of human rights and the fundamental freedoms throughout the country in accordance with national laws and international human rights standards.
Addresses
Please also write to the embassies of the Philippines in your respective country.
Geneva, September 23, 2004
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.
Arbitrary arrest and detention / Ill-treatment / Risk to personal integrity
The International Secretariat of OMCT requests your URGENT intervention in the following situation in the Philippines.
Brief description of the situation
The International Secretariat of OMCT has been informed by the Alliance for Advancement of People’s Rights (KARAPATAN), a member of the OMCT network, of the arrest, detention and ill-treatment of Mr. Jomar Torreliza, 33, Secretary General of Anakpawis (municipal level), in Mindoro Occidental, the Philippines.
According to the information received, on September 6, 2004, at around 1:00 am, Mr. Jomar Torreliza and his family were violently roused by four armed men, wearing bonnets, civilian shirts, fatigue pants and combat shoes who barged into their home in Barangay Kasage, Santa Cruz, Mindoro Occidental.
The armed men grabbed Mr. Jomar Torreliza and pointed their armalites to him. His wife, Mrs. Mia Torreliza, tried to shout for help to draw their neighbours’ attention and get help from them, but one of the armed men strangled her to make her stop. Mr. and Mrs. Torreliza’s children, who were witnessing these events, were crying in fear.
The armed men kicked Mr. Jomar Torreliza down the stairs and he fell unconscious. Mrs. Mia Torreliza saw her husband being hauled inside a van parked near their house which sped off to an undisclosed location.
According to the information reported, Mr. Jomar Torreliza woke up at around 7:00 am that same day inside a toilet which was situated inside a small hut within a military detachment. He was gagged and blindfolded with a bonnet (which allowed him to peer through), his wrists bound together and his legs also tied up with a thin wire. He was interrogated by three men similarly dressed as his captors and who took turns violently hitting him when he could not answer them properly. He was asked if he knew of an ambush done against a certain “Nene”. Thinking that they were referring to Governor Sato, Mr. Jomar Torreliza answered that he did not know anything about it.
They then allegedly used their armalites to hit him on his stomach, neck, torso, legs and other parts of his body. This lasted for at least thirty minutes and each time he implored them to stop until they finally relented. They agreed to give him a reprieve and warned him that if he still continued to deny their allegations that he was a member of the New People’s Army (NPA), they would cut off his head.
After the men left, Mr. Jomar Torreliza took the opportunity to untie his wrists and legs and run from the military detachment across the fields in front of the place he was brought to. He ran towards the Municipal Hall of Paluan, which was 500 meters from the place where he came from and which he later on realized was a military detachment. There, he found Commander Austria of the local Philippine National Police and sought his help. He then realised that he had been detained in the Municipality of Paluan, two hours away from his home in Santa Cruz.
Shortly after his encounter with Commander Austria, two soldiers, who introduced themselves as Lt. Jericho Malangos and MSgt. Gonzales, came to the police station in Paluan and accused Mr. Jomar Torreliza of being a member of the NPA’s SYP (Samahang Yunit Pampropaganda). Mr. Jomar Torreliza reportedly recognized one of the soldiers as being one of the men who had ill-treated him. Commander Austria asked if they had proof of this claim. When the two soldiers could not produce any, Commander Austria asserted that they had no basis to take Mr. Jomar Torreliza with them and the two soldiers just left.
Mr. Jomar Torreliza immediately requested for his relatives from Santa Cruz to fetch him in Paluan. He spent the night in Paluan before being told the following day that his relatives where on their way to get him. Before his relatives came the next day, on September 7, the two soldiers, Lt. Malangos and MSgt. Gonzales, came back along with a squadron of soldiers from the 16th Infantry Battalion and insisted on their accusation that Mr. Jomar Torreliza was a member of the NPA. Mr. Jomar Torreliza denied the allegation and told them that if there were anything he would admit to, it was the fact that he would allow rebels to eat or sleep in his home when they visited, but that he himself was not a rebel. To which the soldiers replied that if that was the case, then he had to be considered a sympathizer. The soldiers threatened that if he did not cooperate with them something would happen to his family. As a result, he reluctantly agreed and signed a document which the soldiers produced stating that he was a Rebel Returnee.
Before Mr. Jomar Torreliza left with his relatives, he pretended to agree to help the military in their operations against the rebels by providing information to them, but he refused to be recruited as a CAFGU.
When he reached Santa Cruz, he wrote a statement to the Santa Cruz police station, assisted by SPO4 (police rank) Romy Dacdac, stating, out of fear that the soldiers would harm his family, that he did not know his captors. From that point on, he hid with the local policemen in his barangay (the smallest local government unit in the Philippines) before coming out in the open on September 10 and deciding to seek the help from KARAPATAN.
The International Secretariat of OMCT is gravely concerned about the arbitrary arrest and detention of, as well as the harm inflicted on, Mr. Jomar Torreliza. OMCT calls upon the authorities in the Philippines to guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of Mr. Jomar Torreliza and his family and to order a prompt, impartial and thorough investigation into the circumstances of these events in order to identify and bring to justice the perpetrators, as well as provide adequate reparation to the victims of these abuses.
OMCT recalls that these events are in clear infringement of articles 7 and 9 (1), (5) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which the Philippines is a state party, which state that “no one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment [and that] no one shall be subjected to arbitrary arrest or detention” and which require that “anyone who has been the victim of unlawful arrest or detention shall have an enforceable right to compensation.”
Action requested
Please write to the authorities in the Philippines, urging them to:
i. take all measures necessary to guarantee the physical and psychological integrity of Mr. Jomar Torreliza and his family;
ii. order a thorough and impartial investigation into the circumstances of the events described above, in order to identify those responsible, bring them to trial and apply the penal and/or administrative sanctions as provided by law;
iii. provide adequate reparation to Mr. Torreliza and his family;
iv. guarantee the respect of human rights and the fundamental freedoms throughout the country in accordance with national laws and international human rights standards.
Addresses
- Her Excellency, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, New Executive Guilding, Malacanang Palace, J.P. Laurel Street, San Miguel, Metro Manila, Email: opnet@ops.gov.ph; kgma@yahoogroups.com
- Hon. Chairperson, Dr. Purificacion Quisumbing, The Commission on Human Rights, SAAC Building, Commonwealth Avenue, U.P. Complex, Diliman, Quezon City; Fax: +632 929-0102, Email: drpvq@chr.gov.ph
- Hon. Sec. Eduardo Ermita, Department of National Defense, Camp Aguinaldo, EDSA, 1110 Quezon City, Email: snd@dnd.gov.ph; sndermita@dnd.gov.ph
- Hon. Sec. Simeon Datumanong, Department of Justice, P. Faura, Ermita, Manila; Fax: +632521-1614, Email: sechbp@info.com.ph
- Hon. Sec. Teresita Deles, Office of the Presidential Advisers on the Peace Process, 7F Agustin Building, Emerald Avenue, Pasig City, Metro Manila, Fax: 632 638 2216
- The Secretariat, GRP-Monitoring Committee, 6/F Immaculate Conception Multi-Purpose Building, 71 Lantana St., Cubao, Quezon City, Email: grp_mc@myway.com
- Ambassadeur, S.E. M. Enrique A. Manalo, Av. Blanc 47, CH-1202, Genève, Suisse, E-mail : mission.philippine@ties.itu.int, Fax: +4122 716 19 32
Please also write to the embassies of the Philippines in your respective country.
Geneva, September 23, 2004
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.