By NITZ ARANCON
Correspondent
THE group Kalinaw Mindanao has called on the government to start an investigation into the alleged excesses of soldiers and police officers since the May 23 declaration of martial law.
The group demanded an investigation even as it claimed during a news conference here over the weekend that it has documented 309 human rights violations committed mostly against Maranaos since May.
Aida Ibrahim, convenor of the Kalinaw Mindanao-affiliate Tindeg Ranao, cited the case of members of a family from strife-torn Marawi City who were arrested in July 23 and detained for over a week on mere suspicion that they had links to Islamic State-inspired Maute Group.
“They were handcuffed and then detained for 10 days. When authorities realized that it was a case of mistaken identity and that they were innocent, they were freed. The military merely said ‘sorry,’” said Ibrahim.
For security reasons, Ibrahim did not identify the family.
The group said men in uniform also harassed an evacuee named Arafat Lala and a lawyer Sol Taule at an evacuation center in Saguiran, Lanao del Sur in July 24.
“It has to be made clear that the judicial system has already been rendered useless under the present declaration of martial law. We have to investigate further the actual face of martial law which is targeting civilians because of the state’s assumption that the rebels are among the evacuees,” said Amirah Lidasan, a convenor of Kalinaw Mindanao.
Lidasan said those who participated in the three-day National Interfaith Humanitarian Mission for Marawi evacuees late last month listed 309 human rights violations. The breakdown: four extrajudicial killings, five tortures, two enforced disappearances, 20 illegal arrests with detention, 25 illegal arrests without detention, 110 indiscriminate gunfires and aerial bombardments, four divestment of properties, two violations of domicile, 15 destructions of property, and 122 threats, harassments and intimidations.
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