STATEMENT ON THE OCCASION OF THE INTERNATIONAL DAY OF THE DISAPPEARED

By Desaparecidos (Philippines), Fundacion Amancio Samuel Villatoro (Guatemala)

As we commemorate the International Day of the Disappeared, we express our solidarity with the families of the desaparecidos in all parts of the globe where a loved one was seized by state security forces and never seen again. Let us turn this day not a time to mourn our loss but a time to rise; a time to firmly resolve that our fight against enforced disappearance and other forms of human rights violations shall continue until justice prevails.

While the killing of a loved one is painful, the involuntary disappearance of one is even more excruciating. Being kept in limbo on their whereabouts makes one nurture hopeless hope that one day they will surface alive and hale. And endlessly guessing and imagining what they have gone through brings in the chill, the tormenting anguish.

But we choose and we dare to rise above this situation. Let us admit without accepting that in a society ruled by greed of the mighty and the powerful, exploitation and oppression of the weak persists. They will try to silence those who profess dissent and those who aspire for meaningful change. But let this not dampen our spirit nor cow us to submission; rather, let this inspire us to action, to spurn and change this system. Together we shall triumph, justice and peace shall prevail.

Enforced disappearance is a policy and practice of States meant to terrorize the people and to silence its critics and the dissenters. This is evident in the Latin Americas during the 1960’s to 1980’s where US-backed military dictators ruled. It was through Operation Condor that enforced disappearance was systematically perpetrated as part of counter-insurgency programs of military regimes. Initiated by the Central Intelligence Agency of the US, Operation Condor aimed to eradicate communism and its ideas and to suppress any potential opposition movements against its member governments. Soviet Union at that time poses as a threat to the world order which the US is the dominant power. Regimes in Argentina, Chile, Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia and Brazil were supported by the US government through technical support, military aid and providing training in the US army School of the Americas, where the grotesque acts of torture, killings, disappearances, rape and other forms of rights abuses were instituted and taught in the operational field manuals.

The Guatemalan people have earlier suffered the pain brought about by the enforced disappearances of 45,000 persons due to the Civil War which started in the 1960’s. To protect the economic interest of US in Guatemala, the earlier phase of the counter-insurgency of Guatemalan government was under direct assistance of US Public Safety Advisor John P. Longan to senior military and police officials in implementing covert and overt anti-guerilla operations. State security forces began to abduct, torture and kill PGT (Guatemalan Labor Party).

And it is no coincidence that in the Philippines, Pres. Ferdinand Marcos then was laying the ground for the declaration of martial law and implemented it in 1971, while military dictators in Latin Americas were perpetrating various human rights violations.

In the Philippines, cases of enforced disappearance continue. From Marcos’ martial law, where 759 victims of enforced disappearance were recorded, the supposedly icon of democracy, Cory Aquino, surpassed the record and registered more than 821 cases of disappearance. During the Ramos administration, 39 disappearances were reported. Despite Joseph Estrada’s short stint in the presidency, 26 victims were documented during his time. Meanwhile, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s record on enforced disappearance shows 206 cases.

To this date, the current dispensation of Noynoy Aquino, who speaks of a changed military institution that has respect for human rights, registered 16 victims of enforced disappearance from the time of his ascendancy as president in 2010 to April 2013, despite the enactment of a law that criminalises the act of involuntary or enforced disappearance.

Attached to every President who came into power is a counter-insurgency operational plan — hatched, funded, and undertaken with a combination of brute force and covert means — to suppress the protest of a discontented people and combat the people’s movements for freedom and national democracy. At present, Aquino’s counter-insurgency program Oplan Bayanihan has claimed 142 victims of extrajudicial killings, 76 cases of torture, more than 500 victims of illegal arrest. Such program is largely being driven by the US government’s complicity with the Philippine government to maintain its geo-political, economic and military dominance in the Philippines and in the Asia Pacific region. Thus, the same policy, tactics and techniques are applied to other developing countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America where U.S. interests are at stake.

It is imperative that we, families of the disappeared, stand alongside the oppressed peoples of the world, unite and fight this rapacious policy and practice of our governments and U.S. imperialism. Also on this day, families of victims of enforced disappearances in Guatemala, Amancio Samuel Villatoro foundationalism,  MUSEUM OF THE MARTYRS, UNAMG, TRUTH AND JUSTICE FOR MILITARY JOURNAL. HIJOS GUATEMALA and in the Philippines, Families of Desaparecidos for Justice forms its solidarity and jointly commemorates remembers all desaparecidos in our countries and all over the world. Let our voices of protests and rage resound in every continent. Let us register our resolve to pursue justice for our missing loved ones and to fight for and build a society where the rights, welfare and the democratic aspirations of the people are respected and realized.

Message to My Desaparecido

by JL Burgos

Families of the disappeared remember their missing loved ones during the International Day of the Disappeared at Plaza Miranda, Manila, Philippines. August 30, 2012.

VIDEO | Dead or alive? Families remain clueless as they join day to remember ‘disappeared’ loved ones

Tricia Aquino | InterAksyon.com

MANILA, Philippines – Twenty-one-year-old Mirasol Laher of Quezon province could neither mourn nor find closure for the loss of her husband Felix Balaston.

Losing him didn’t mean that Mirasol was certain that her husband died. She recalled that at about 8 a.m., a year ago, Felix left their house to harvest banana bud and buy rice for lunch.

“Nag-antay-antay ako ng tanghali, tapos walang dumating [ I waited for him until noon but he never came back],” said Mirasol.

After three days, Mirasol learned that Felix was abducted by soldiers because he was allegedly a member of the communist New People’s Army.

After learning about the abduction, Mirasol didn’t know what happened next to her husband. She wants to believe that Felix is still alive and will soon be reunited with her and their child but there are times Mirasol fears that her husband is already dead.

On Thursday, August 30,  during the International Day of the Disappeared, Mirasol joined other families at Plaza Miranda in Quiapo, Manila in remembering their lost loved ones.

The gathering, led by the non-government human rights group Karapatan and Desaparecidos, an organization of the families of the victims of enforced disappearances, urged the government to address the cases of those who got lost without a trace.

According to the groups, there is a pattern that shows that state agents are the ones behind enforced disapperances – they abduct the victim and then deny that the abduction took place.

The groups said the same pattern had happened to the abduction case of Lilia Devero’s husband, Jully, of Negros Occidental.

In May last year, local police went to  the home of the Deveros and accused July of monopolizing the gathering  of charcoal in their area.  Jully denied the charge. He said that while he did collect charcoal, he only did so from their own land.

Lilia recounted that the angry policemen threatened Jully that they would return for him. Two months later, seven men allegedly from the Revolutionary Proletarian Army-Alex Boncayao Brigade barged into the home of the Deveros and accused Jully of hiding guns at their residence.

Finding none, the men tied Jully and brought him to the home of one of his children. Lilia insisted on coming with them. It was here that the RPA-ABB allegedly received a call from their “bossing,” who instructed them to take Jully away. They told Lilia not to worry. They said they would bring Jully back the following day.

Morning came, and Jully was nowhere to be found. Lilia learned that two more farmers were abducted that night, and more were hurt.

She reported the incident to the police, as well as to a congressman. She was given P3,000 for her trouble, but no other help arrived. Today, she and her family live in fear. They no longer have a home in the 13-hectare land that they used to tend for the owners who live abroad.

American mission worker for the United Church of Christ, Rebecca Lawson, understands the plight of people like Mirasol and Lilia, who until now do not know what actually happened to their husbands.

“This right should really be respected. And I would appeal to the Aquino administration to take seriously this issue because it would do a great deal of good for the peace and justice situation of the Philippines if these families could know what happened to their loved ones. And for those who are currently detained, if there are any who are still alive, [I hope that they will] be surfaced and for them to be properly given due justice,” said Lawson.

As her Church has a “very strong stand for peace and human rights,” Lawson assists families in documenting cases and bringing these to the court. She also helps families of the disappeared address other concerns like keeping the children in school and relocating families who no longer feel safe in their homes.

“As a church worker, I pray for the whole of the Philippines that this would be something that could be brought to an end,” said Lawson. “This could very much be helped by addressing the situation of impunity – meaning that people who have done these things are allowed to go unpunished. If people are really held accountable for their actions, this situation can end,” said Lawson.