Melo report holds some military members responsible

THERE is circumstantial evidence linking some elements of the military to extra-judicial killings, even as there is no official State policy that sanctions such killings, according to the 79-page report of the Melo Commission which was finally released to the public today.

This evidence raises the suspicion that “some elements and personalities in the armed forces, in particular General (Jovito) Palparan, as responsible for an undetermined number of killings, by allowing, tolerating, and even encouraging the killings,” the report added.

Read the Melo report.

Military claims that the killings were the result of “internal purges” by the Communist Party of the Philippines and the New People’s Army (NPA) were also belied by the report. It said that this theory was “somewhat improbable,” as it would be “contradictory for the military to consider the purge theory while at the same time claim that the victims were enemies of the State.”

The killings “appear to be well organized and the killers adequately equipped,” said the report. With the CPP-NPA out of the picture, “a group with certain military capabilities can succeed in carrying out an orchestrated plan of eliminating its admitted enemies.”

This group “admittedly has all the opportunity to carry out the said killings. Its members roam the countryside free from restrictions, pursuant to their ‘all-out war’ on communism. Their presence in the areas where the killings occurred is undeniable.”

The reactions of some Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) officers to the increasing number of killings “lends itself to the inference that they were not much averse to what was happening,” the report said. “Practically nothing was done to prevent or investigate the killings, not even to look into the worsening public opinion and accusations against General Palparan.”

Palparan figures prominently in the Melo report. He “admits having uttered statements that may have encouraged the said killings. He also obviously condones these killings, by failing to properly investigate the possibility that his men may have been behind them.”

The general’s “cavalier attitude” was also referred to in the report. “He mentions that if his men kill civilians suspected of NPA connections, ‘it is their call,’ obviously meaning that it is up to them to do so. This gives the impression that he may not order the killings, but neither will he order his men to desist from doing so.”

Emphasizing the principle of command responsibility, “it becomes equally plain that some ranking officers in the Army have not performed their function of investigating or preventing the said killings, as well as punishing their perpetrators.”

The report also weighs in on State responsibility. “If the State fails to investigate, prosecute or redress private, non-State acts in violation of fundamental liberties, it is in effect aiding the perpetrators of such violations, for which it could be held responsible under international law.”

Press Secretary Ignacio Bunye said in a statement that the government has strongly condemned the killings of activists and journalists “from the beginning.” He added that President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo “would continue to take the necessary actions to lay out the findings, to seek the truth and take decisive action to stop these killings.”

The AFP has also pledged to create a human rights office to train soldiers and investigate the members of the military who commit human rights violations.

The Melo report makes the following recommendations:

• The government must exert political will to stop extra-judicial killings and condemn such killings on all levels.

• Cases must be investigated by a civilian body independent from the military.

• The Department of Justice must create a special team to prosecute these cases and request the Supreme Court to designate special courts for their trial.

• The witness protection program needs to be enhanced and made more effective.

• The President should propose legislation to require police and military forces and other government officials to maintain strict chain-of-command responsibility with respect to extra-judicial killing.

• Investigative capabilities of the Philiipine National Police and National Bureau of Investigation should be improved and enhanced.

• Security forces should be properly oriented and trained.