Sexual Mutilation Alleged in Philippines Massacre
DAVAO CITY, Philippines — Authorities provided grim details Friday of the massacre in the southern Philippines that shocked the country this week, among them allegations that women among the 57 people killed may have been sexually mutilated.
Speaking on national television, Justice Secretary Agnes Devanadera said “even the private parts of the women were shot at. It was horrible. It was not done to just one. It was done practically to all the women.”
Ms. Devanadera said that several of the men accused of participating in the slaughter have surrendered and offered to testify. “They are bothered by their conscience because they thought that only the Mangudadatus would be shot,” she said.
The 57 dead included 30 journalists and media workers, according to the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines. The rest were the relatives, lawyers and supporters of Esmael Mangudadatu, a local politician, as well as 15 individuals who were not part of the Mangudadatu group. Investigators said the 15 were killed apparently to eliminate witnesses.
Their vehicles happened to be at the checkpoint along the highway in Ampatuan town, in Maguindanao Province, when the convoy of Mangudadatu supporters and journalists were stopped by police and militiamen loyal to the Ampatuans, the political clan that rules the province.
Ms. Devanadera said the zippers of the women’s pants had been undone, some of them pulled down. She said authorities were still trying to determine whether the women had been raped but “it is certain that something bad was done to them.”
Twenty-two of the victims were women, among them Mr. Mangudadatu’s wife Genalyn, his two sisters and his two lawyers.
At least one witness, according to Ms. Devanadera, told investigators that Andal Ampatuan Jr., the mayor of Datu Unsay town who is the primary suspect in the killings, was on the scene giving out commands but that it was not clear if Mr. Ampatuan himself fired a gun.
On Friday, Mr. Mangudadatu finally filed his certificate of candidacy to run for governor of Maguindanao Province, the act that he believes prompted Mr. Ampatuan — who is being groomed by his father Andal Sr. to succeed him as governor — to order the massacre.
“I had to do it. I owe it to my dear wife, to my family, to my supporters and to all those journalists who died while doing their job,” Mr. Mangudadatu said in a telephone interview on Friday.
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has been under intense pressure to pursue the killers. The Ampatuan family is her closest political ally in the southern Philippines. On Friday, she ordered Interior Secretary Reynaldo Puno to take direct control of the autonomous region in Muslim Mindanao, of which Maguindanao is part, and to suspend local, police and military officials if necessary to proceed with the investigation.
A military spokesman said on Friday that two ground commanders of the armed forces in Maguindanao had been relieved of their commands. The military on Thursday had taken control of the capital Shariff Aguak and other towns, a day after disarming dozens of militiamen employed by the Ampatuans.
The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines, the largest media group in the country, urged the government on Friday to form a special court to try the suspects. “This is to help ensure that no whitewash will happen and to identify the roots and those responsible for this unimaginable crime,” said Nestor Burgos Jr., the group’s chairman.
DAVAO CITY, Philippines — Authorities provided grim details Friday of the massacre in the southern Philippines that shocked the country this week, among them allegations that women among the 57 people killed may have been sexually mutilated.
Speaking on national television, Justice Secretary Agnes Devanadera said “even the private parts of the women were shot at. It was horrible. It was not done to just one. It was done practically to all the women.”
Ms. Devanadera said that several of the men accused of participating in the slaughter have surrendered and offered to testify. “They are bothered by their conscience because they thought that only the Mangudadatus would be shot,” she said.
The 57 dead included 30 journalists and media workers, according to the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines. The rest were the relatives, lawyers and supporters of Esmael Mangudadatu, a local politician, as well as 15 individuals who were not part of the Mangudadatu group. Investigators said the 15 were killed apparently to eliminate witnesses.
Their vehicles happened to be at the checkpoint along the highway in Ampatuan town, in Maguindanao Province, when the convoy of Mangudadatu supporters and journalists were stopped by police and militiamen loyal to the Ampatuans, the political clan that rules the province.
Ms. Devanadera said the zippers of the women’s pants had been undone, some of them pulled down. She said authorities were still trying to determine whether the women had been raped but “it is certain that something bad was done to them.”
Twenty-two of the victims were women, among them Mr. Mangudadatu’s wife Genalyn, his two sisters and his two lawyers.
At least one witness, according to Ms. Devanadera, told investigators that Andal Ampatuan Jr., the mayor of Datu Unsay town who is the primary suspect in the killings, was on the scene giving out commands but that it was not clear if Mr. Ampatuan himself fired a gun.
On Friday, Mr. Mangudadatu finally filed his certificate of candidacy to run for governor of Maguindanao Province, the act that he believes prompted Mr. Ampatuan — who is being groomed by his father Andal Sr. to succeed him as governor — to order the massacre.
“I had to do it. I owe it to my dear wife, to my family, to my supporters and to all those journalists who died while doing their job,” Mr. Mangudadatu said in a telephone interview on Friday.
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has been under intense pressure to pursue the killers. The Ampatuan family is her closest political ally in the southern Philippines. On Friday, she ordered Interior Secretary Reynaldo Puno to take direct control of the autonomous region in Muslim Mindanao, of which Maguindanao is part, and to suspend local, police and military officials if necessary to proceed with the investigation.
A military spokesman said on Friday that two ground commanders of the armed forces in Maguindanao had been relieved of their commands. The military on Thursday had taken control of the capital Shariff Aguak and other towns, a day after disarming dozens of militiamen employed by the Ampatuans.
The National Union of Journalists of the Philippines, the largest media group in the country, urged the government on Friday to form a special court to try the suspects. “This is to help ensure that no whitewash will happen and to identify the roots and those responsible for this unimaginable crime,” said Nestor Burgos Jr., the group’s chairman.
Source: New York Times
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