Human Rights Watch: Two decade long reign of terror by Ampatuan clan in Philippines
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A graphic video of the massacre.
Details are from article in the Tribune. Human Rights Watch blamed the long reign of terror in an area of Mindanao on former Philippine President Arroyo's political patronage of the clan. They were allowed to amass great wealth and power. The government ignored the growth of their militia forces and sales of weapons. Human rights abuses were ignored.
Clan members were charged with a gruesome mass murder including many women and reporters on November 23 2009. 57 people were killed and the perpetrators were preparing to bury them in a mass grave when caught. The 96 page report has been released just before the first anniversary of the mass murder in Maguindanao. It is called "They Own the People."
The investigation interviewed witnesses and ex-members of the Ampatuan militia about the murders of at least 56 other people going as far back as 2001. Many victims had been tortured and killed with chainsaws.
The report said that Ampatuan Sr an ex-leader of a paramilitary force trained by the government to fight Muslim rebels had along with relatives engaged in targeted killings, abductions, torture and sexual assault. The aim was to extend the clans'power and avenge perceived wrongs against clan members. Usually victims were unarmed and the women were often raped.
Arroyo routinely ignored allegations against the clan since they were useful to her regime in containing Muslim rebels and also delivered the vote from the Maguindanao area during national elections. The report called on the new government of President Aquino to bring all involved in the killings to justice. HRW pointed out that the Arroyo administration had at least "tacitly permitted if not actually facilitated" the atrocities and violations committed by the clan in her eight years in office in return for political support.
The November 23 attack on reporters and relatives of an opponent resulted in the largest number of reporters killed in a single instance ever recorded. Andal Ampatuan Jr. a main suspect has been detained along with a number of others at the National Bureau of Investigation headquarters. The trial is expected to last years. For more details see the Tribune article.
Clan members were charged with a gruesome mass murder including many women and reporters on November 23 2009. 57 people were killed and the perpetrators were preparing to bury them in a mass grave when caught. The 96 page report has been released just before the first anniversary of the mass murder in Maguindanao. It is called "They Own the People."
The investigation interviewed witnesses and ex-members of the Ampatuan militia about the murders of at least 56 other people going as far back as 2001. Many victims had been tortured and killed with chainsaws.
The report said that Ampatuan Sr an ex-leader of a paramilitary force trained by the government to fight Muslim rebels had along with relatives engaged in targeted killings, abductions, torture and sexual assault. The aim was to extend the clans'power and avenge perceived wrongs against clan members. Usually victims were unarmed and the women were often raped.
Arroyo routinely ignored allegations against the clan since they were useful to her regime in containing Muslim rebels and also delivered the vote from the Maguindanao area during national elections. The report called on the new government of President Aquino to bring all involved in the killings to justice. HRW pointed out that the Arroyo administration had at least "tacitly permitted if not actually facilitated" the atrocities and violations committed by the clan in her eight years in office in return for political support.
The November 23 attack on reporters and relatives of an opponent resulted in the largest number of reporters killed in a single instance ever recorded. Andal Ampatuan Jr. a main suspect has been detained along with a number of others at the National Bureau of Investigation headquarters. The trial is expected to last years. For more details see the Tribune article.
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