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Philippines massacre: masterminds of country's worst political attack jailed Philippines massacre: masterminds of country's worst political attack jailed
(about 4 hours later)
Ampatuan family members convicted over killing of 58 people in 2009 attack on political rivalsAmpatuan family members convicted over killing of 58 people in 2009 attack on political rivals
The masterminds of the Philippines’ worst political massacre have been found guilty of murder, a decade after the slaughter in which gunmen killed 58 people in the conflict-plagued south of the country. Members of one of the Philippines’ most powerful political clans have been found guilty of a massacre that left 57 people dead in the country’s worst ever case of election violence.
Leaders of the Ampatuan family, a powerful political dynasty, had been accused of orchestrating the killings in a bid to quash an election challenge from a rival clan. At a special court in Taguig City, five key members of the Ampatuan family, which governed the southern province of Maguindanao for decades, were sentenced to life imprisonment for the killings.
Thirty-two journalists were among those murdered on 23 November 2009, making the massacre also one of the worst ever of media workers. The massacre was found to have been overseen by Andal Ampatuan Jr, a former town mayor and son of the former governor Andal Sr.
A Manila court on Thursday found Andal Ampatuan Jnr, who had been planning to run for provincial governor against the rival, and four other relatives, guilty of murder. They were each sentenced to 30 years in jail without parole. The verdict, which follows a 10-year battle for justice, was welcomed by families, but was described a partial victory. Some members of the Ampatuan family were acquitted. A further 80 suspects remain at large.
There were roughly 100 defendants due for sentencing on Thursday. The group were accused of ambushing and killing members of the rival Mangudadatu family, who had been on the way to file election candidacy papers for Esmael Mangudadatu.
The verdicts for the principals in the case, those accused of orchestrating the massacre and leading the killings, were announced first. Mangudadatu, who planned to run as governor of Maguindanao, said that he had received death threats from the Ampatuans. He sent his wife and supporters to file his candidacy, in the belief that they would not be attacked.
The murders had cast a spotlight on the Philippines’ notorious culture of impunity, in which powerful and wealthy politicians and businessmen often operate above the law. Their election convoy was ambushed and shot by 100 gunmen. Among those who were killed were 32 journalists and media workers, who were covering the filing of Mangudadatu’s candidacy papers.
The Ampatuans ruled the impoverished southern province of Maguindanao and had close links to the former Philippines president, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. The family was allowed to build a heavily armed militia to serve as a buffer against a long-running Muslim insurgency in the region. It was one of the world’s biggest single attacks on journalists.
Prosecutors said family members and their associates carried out the attack in broad daylight on a convoy carrying an Ampatuan family rival’s wife, relatives, lawyers and the journalists. They were killed in a hail of gunfire. Victims’ bodies were buried with their vehicles in a pit dug by an excavator. At the time of the massacre, the then justice minister, Agnes Devanadera, said the bodies of many of the 20-plus female victims had been sexually mutilated.
At the time of the massacre, the then justice minister, Agnes Devanadera, said the bodies of many of the 20-plus female victims had been sexually mutilated, although it was not known if the women had been raped. Jhan Chiene Maravilla, whose father Bart Maravilla, a radio reporter in the convoy, was killed during the attack, said she welcomed the sentencing. Families, however, remain afraid for their lives because many people were acquitted, she said.
With scores of witnesses and mountains of legal paperwork, the case had creaked through a Philippine justice system that is famous for being overburdened, underfunded and vulnerable to pressure from elites. “Some of them are now free. What happens to our families? They might try to to retaliate. We can’t be sure. They killed 58 people. They can kill us one by one. We know their character. They really need to stay in jail,” added Maravilla.
During the case’s years of delays, the accused family’s patriarch, Andal Ampatuan Snr, and seven other defendants, died. Nonoy Espina, chairman of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines, described the verdict as a partial victory. A further 80 suspects remain at large.
At the time of the killing, Apatuan Snr hadbeen governor and wanted to hand over the reins of power to his son. The decision by another clan to challenge this in 2010 elections led the Ampatuans to carry out the massacre. The Ampatuans have denied the charges against them.
Human Rights Watch immediately hailed Thursday’s verdicts and said it should act as an impetus for broader reforms. Throughout the case, which has dragged on through the courts for almost a decade and involved roughly 100 defendants, victims’ families and media groups have reported harassment and threats.
“This momentous verdict should help provide justice to the families of the victims, and build toward greater accountability for rights abuses in the country,” HRW deputy Asia director Phil Robertson said. At least three witnesses who testified in the case have been killed over the years, Nena Santos, a lawyer for Mangudadatu and families of several other victims told Associated Press. Santos said she had been threatened with death multiple times and offered a vast sums to withdraw from the case.
“Advocates should use this verdict to spur further political and judicial reforms to ultimately end the impunity that has plagued the country for far too long. Antonio La Viña, a professor at the University of the Philippines College of Law, said the battle for justice was not over. “The enabling conditions for the massacre – warlordism and political dynasties – still is exist in many parts of the Philippines. The Ampatuan Massacre was state sanctioned, state violence in the extreme,” he said.
“More broadly, this verdict should prompt the country’s political leaders to finally act to end state support for ‘private armies’ and militias that promotes the political warlordism that gave rise to the Ampatuans.” The sentencing did, however, offer hope, she added, by sending “a strong signal that impunity is not forever”.
About 80 other suspects remain at large, including police officers and Ampatuan clan members who are feared to pose a risk to the prosecution witnesses and the victims’ families. “It might take 10 years but justice will catch up,” La Viña said. “These were crimes against humanity like the killings in the war against illegal drugs. Those who are responsible for the latter should know they will not elude justice.”
The Ampatuans remain a political force in the south. Family family members won 25 local seats in May’s elections including Sajid Ampatuan, a defendant in the massacre case who was released on bail. The case has been seen as a test of the Philippine courts, which are notoriously sluggish, underfunded and vulnerable pressure from elites.
Phil Robertson, Human Rights Watch’s deputy Asia director, described the verdict as momentous, adding that it should “spur further political and judicial reforms to ultimately end the impunity that has plagued the country for far too long”.