Case PHL 090710/ PHL 090710.CC
URGENT CAMPAIGNS/ CHILD CONCERN
Alleged extrajudicial killings, including of a minor/ Risk of impunity
The International Secretariat of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) requests your URGENT intervention in the following situation in the Philippines.
The International Secretariat of OMCT has been informed by the Task Force Detainees of the Philippines (TFDP), a member of OMCT SOS-Torture Network, about the alleged extrajudicial killings of three brothers, including a minor, namely Mr. Eric Miraflores (27 years old), Mr. Raymond Miraflores (23 years old) and Rosmil Miraflores (16 years old), in Sitio Hobol, Masinloc, Zambales, by members of the Zambales Provincial Mobile Group-Philippine National Police (PMG- PNP).
According to the information received, on 2 June 2010, Mr. Eric Miraflores, Mr. Raymond Miraflores and Rosmil Miraflores went with their tricycles to the family’s farm in Sitio Hobol to help out their father. This latter arrived a bit later and proceeded to do his chores when he heard several gunshots. Out of fear, he went into hiding and only later was he informed that his three sons had died.
According to the same information, when the three bodies were brought to the family house, the parents were puzzled to find that their sons were wearing camouflage uniforms, different from the shirts and pants they were wearing when they had left the house in the morning. All three bodies reportedly bore several gunshot wounds and bruises. It is also reported that Mr. Eric Miraflores’s Identification Card (ID), wallet and mobile phone were missing.
According to a statement made by a police inspector of PMG-PNP to local media, Mr. Eric Miraflores, Mr. Raymond Miraflores and Rosmil Miraflores, suspected of being members of an armed rebel group, were killed during a supposed encounter with the police. The police confiscated a hand gun that was allegedly used by the victims as well as their tricycles. However, the family denies the account of the police and maintains that Mr. Eric Miraflores, Mr. Raymond Miraflores and Rosmil Miraflores were civilians and not affiliated with any group. It also affirms that none of the three owned a gun or knew how to use it.
The family subsequently gave the bodies to the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) for autopsy and requested that an investigation is carried out by the Commission on Human Rights Region (CHR) region 3. The investigation is currently ongoing.
The International Secretariat of OMCT is gravely concerned about the circumstances surrounding the killings of Mr. Eric Miraflores, Mr. Raymond Miraflores and Rosmil Miraflores. OMCT recalls that the authorities have to fulfil their obligations under international human rights law to protect the right to life and to bringing to justice those responsible for violating this right.
In its Conclusions and Observations, issued after examining the Philippines’ report in May 2009, the Committee against Torture expressed its concern “at reports that, although the total number of killings has declined significantly, such killings (…) continue” and recommended that “the State party should take effective steps to investigate promptly, effectively and impartially all allegations of involvement of members of law enforcement agencies in extrajudicial killings (…)” and “that the State party should implement the recommendations contained in the report of the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions (A/HRC/8/3/Add.2), following his visit to the Philippines in February 2007.”
Similarly, the Committee on the Rights of the Child, after examining the Philippines in September 2009, “urged the State party to make every effort to reinforce protection of the right to life, survival and development of children, inter alia, by taking all necessary measures to prevent extrajudicial killings of children and to thoroughly investigate all alleged cases of killings and bring the perpetrators to justice”.
Please write to the authorities in the Philippines urging them to:
Please also write to the embassies of the Philippines in your respective country.
Geneva, 09 July 2010
Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this appeal in your reply.
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