CHR advisory and update on the Mamasapano incident
The violent incident of January 25, 2015, in Mamasapano left 44 Philippine police forces, 18 MILF combatants and at least 5 civilians including a 5-year old girl dead, and an undetermined number of combatant and civilians wounded. As of February 1, at least 1,500 families have been displaced. All of these occurred within the context of an ongoing peace process and despite the protocols that have been put in place to prevent incidents such as this.
The Commission on Human Rights informs the public that on February 3 to 4 a Central Office team will conduct an in situ scoping mission in Cotabato City and Mamasapano, Maguindanao Province. There have been calls for a more independent investigation into the incident. The CHR, given its mandate under the Constitution and various laws, will at this moment, define the basic principles, scope and parameters of its independent investigation through this two-day scoping mission.
The CHR Scoping Mission is expected to attain the following objectives at the end of the mission:
- Based on human rights and international humanitarian law standards, the CHR has enough prima facie elements that will warrant an investigation within those standards;
- Political endorsement of a possible investigation is obtained from various stakeholders including but not limited to the GPH components in ARMM and Region 12, namely DILG, PNP and AFP; ARMM Regional Government; RHRC; CCCH and IMT; and the MILF.
- A Terms of Reference (TOR) and Work Plan on the proposed CHR Independent Investigation are adopted.
The CHR Central Office team will be composed of Chairperson Loretta Ann P. Rosales, Atty. Homero Matthew P. Rusiana (Executive Director), Atty. Marc Titus D. Cebreros (HRICD Chief), Atty. Twyla Rubin (Investigation Attorney IV) and Atty. Cecilia Jimenez-Damary (IHR/IHL Advisor). Critical support on the ground is being provided to the team by CHR Regional Office XII led by Atty. Christina Hawtay-Jovero, OIC-Regional Director in cooperation with Atty. Laisa Masuhud Alamia, Executive Secretary, ARMM Regional Government.
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