Back on the fringe, again

Published in Mindanao Times 06/02/09

Davao City’s problem on human rights has been around for a long time now, but one that’s often left unnoticed. Fortunately, it was pulled out on the fringe and brought into the mainstream when the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) launched a widely publicized public inquiry on the unchecked killings. But from the looks of it, it seems to be back again to where it was before: on the fringe.

Just two months ago, when the CHR came here to investigate the series of killings in the city allegedly done by the Davao Death Squad (DDS), Davao City became the talk of the town. National broadsheets ran headlines regarding the CHR investigation. Newspaper columnists and cartoonists, human rights advocate and full fledged activists, street philosophers and street sweepers also joined the fray.

Shutting the 'Davao Death Squad' down: A wild goose chase?

All eyes are now on Davao City, as the public inquiry, which is spearheaded by the Commission on Human Rights, over the extrajudicial killings opened last Monday. “The killings have gone on for too long and it’s time to hold those responsible to account,” the INQUIRER report says. “With this message, Commission on Human Rights (CHR) Chair Leila de Lima is set to open on Monday a public inquiry into a wave of unexplained killings of more than 800 people in Davao City since 1998.” (See INQUIRER’s CHR probes 800 kills by Davao death squad)

This isn't the first that a move to hold those behind the extrajudicial killing accountable has been made. As The Mindanao Daily Mirror noted, "Throughout the past decade there have been a number of times in which so-called civil society has risen up to denounce the long series of summary killings that have victimized hundreds of people in Davao City."

This renewed invigoration over the unsolved killings in Davao City spurred me to re-read that part of Alston Report, “Davao: Vigilantism or Death Squad,” which talked about the death squad justice in the city.

Two years ago, Professor Phillip Alston, Special Rapporteur of the United Nations Human Rights Council on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, visited the country to investigate the rampant extra-judicial killings in the Philippines. After spending ten days in the country in February 2007, he made a report, titled “Promotion and Protection of All Human Rights, Civil, Political, Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights, Including the Right to Development,” which came to be known as simply the Alston Report.

In the Alston Report, a portion can be found as regards the notorious “death squad” in Davao City, locally known as “DDS” (Davao Death Squad). Following is an excerpt of the Alston Report regarding Davao City’s “death squad justice,” as Alston phrased it.