The killing incident of eight villagers in Barangay Ipil, Maimbung Sulu by the Armed Forces of Philippines rocked the depleting, uncertain and vulnerable political and security structures of Mindanao.
The incident happened when pursuing a false lead the military conducted a rescue operation to find one of the kidnapped victims by the Abu Sayyaf group. In the end, the military operation resulted in the death of seven civilians (including women, men and children) and one army soldier who was on vacations with his family. The military was unable to find the kidnapped victim nor any of the alleged members of the Abu Sayyaf group.
The Sulu provincial government categorically condemned the incident and tagged it as a “massacre’. The JAGO (Judge Advocate General – a high military court) conducted the investigation of the incident and declared the incident a result of legitimate encounter. The Commission on Human Rights rejected the JAGO finding because “none of the victims were Abu Sayyaff and they were all civilians”. The Commission on Human Rights endorsed filing of criminal charges against the military before the civilian court.
NP Sulu team along with local partners was the first international group managed to move inside the Baranagay Ipil area in the next day after the day of incident.
The Ipil massacre created more controversies as one of the survivor informed CSOs and local groups that American soldiers were seen with the AFP while she was taken to a boat. Later on, the US embassy in Manila denied the allegation and stressed that the Americans soldiers only conduct humanitarian works and are prohibited to engage in combat operations.
The GRP-OIC-MNLF follow up Tripartite Review meeting was held in Istanbul, Turkey on Februarty14-16, 2008. The Joint Working Group composed of MNLF and GRP representatives discussed and reviewed the gaps in the implementation of GRP-MNLF Final Peace Agreement and the findings of the five committees which were established after the Jan 2008 Jeddah Tripartite Talks. In Istanbul both parties proposed to amend the Republic Act No.9054 that deals with the Autonomous Regions of Muslim Mindanao.
The GRP-MILF Peace talks have been stalled on the delicate issue of ancestral domain. Both parties are making continuous efforts to arrange executive level exploratory talks and find a breakthrough on the presently prevailing stalemated situation. There is an intensive pressure on GRP and MILF to sign the peace agreement within this year. The civil society organizations are persistently urging and mobilizing both the parties to return to the negotiating table as soon as possible and resolve the Mindanao conflict through peaceful means. The civil society organizations have launched peace rallies all over Mindanao and recently a Peace Caravan is being organized for the first time from Mindanao to Manila to raise more awareness on the Peace Process and mobilizing GRP and MILF to sign the Peace agreement, and GRP and MNLF to thoroughly implement the 1996 Final Peace Agreement. The role of the civil society groups in Mindanao is very instrumental in consolidating the gains of the ongoing peace processes.
The MILF established a new Coordinating Council on Bangsamoro Civil Society Organizations (CCBCO). The CCBCO has requested all the national and international organizations working in MORO areas to provide their organizational profiles, mandate, range of activities and the areas of work. The CCBCO has recently conducted a special meeting of all the international NGOs and International Organizations in this regard.
The US Ambassador to the Philippines Kristy Kenney visited MILF Chairman Al Haj Murad Ebrahim on 20th February 2008 in Camp Darapanan, Shariff Kabunsuan. Kenney is the first US Ambassador to Philippines who met the leadership of Moro Islamic Liberation Front. The MILF Peace Panel Chairman told that Kenney “expressed support to the peace process”. Kenney was accompanied by other US officials who stressed that the US troops in Mindanao are part of the “Balikatan” Exercises and are not going to be engaged in military exercises instead Balikatan is a purely “humanitarian mission”.
The Balikatan exercises took place in some parts of Mindanao but it was severely criticized by the majority of the people and civil society organizations in Mindanao. Protest rallies against the event from different groups including students were echoed all over the Mindanao. The majority of local communities have been hesitant to welcome the US troops because of the earlier alleged human rights violations by the USA in the region.
The Work of the Team
Sulu Team
The Sulu team in consultation with the main office visited Ipil along with local partners to confirm the casusalities reported. NP was the first international team that managed to go inside the site of the incident. The team accompanied the local CSO partner to assess the situation, meet the victims and simultaneously provided conscious presence. The team in consultation with the main office documented the incident to circulate among local partners, international groups and NP international offices. The team contributed to the control and clarification of rumours that arose from this incident to mitigate the possibility of further clashes.
Along with local partners, the team also collected information which was made available to human rights organizations in Sulu province and at the national level. The Human Rights Commission Office in the city of Zamboanga approached the team to validate the incident and made a visit to Ipil to conduct its own investigation.
The team accompanied and observed the rally organized by the Civil Societies with the support of Local Government Authorities to condemn the killing of civilians in Ipil and called for an Independent Inquiry to punish the culprits and bring the perpetrators to justice.
To further strengthen NP engagement with Local Government Units specifically on protection issues, the team paid a courtesy visit to the Mayor of Jolo city and updated the mayor on NP’s activities. The meeting helped the team to highlight civilian protection issues in the province of Sulu and it consolidated the relations with the Local Authorities.
The team on the invitation of local government unit participated in the meeting of Area Coordination Centre of Sulu provincial Government. The Sulu team explained NP mandate and currents works to Executive Director of ACC. The team was asked to share information on protection issues at Barangay levels to the provincial authorities. NP was invited to become a member of ACC and participate in its meetings to update on civilian protection issues to the security forces, local authorities, service providers, donors and community at large. The NP Sulu team in consultation with the main office decided to participate in the ACC as an observer rather than as an full member which was accepted by the ACC.
On the request of local partners, the NP Sulu team after consulting the Main Office provided accompaniment to the Citizen Peace Watch Group who went to Sulu to monitor the US and AFP military exercises in Sulu. Later, the team accompanied the Citizens Watch Group to the MNLF camps in Indianan and Ipil. The NP Team was invited by local MNLF commanders to explain the work and planned activities of NP. The local MNLF commanders assured support to the NP team and invited NP team to visit the areas under their control.
In consultation with the main office, NP Sulu team organized a second Sulu Based Advisory Body Meeting. The meeting was conducted to analyse the critical situation in Sulu after the Barangay Ipil incident and design coordinated strategies for follow up activities in the affected areas. The team further shared the early warning system and early response, and planned activities in this respect in two identified municipalities of Sulu Province.
NP Central Mindanao Team (CMT)
NP Central Mindanao Team continued monitoring the security situation in most barangays of Datu Piang Municipality, and at the same time, maintained the observer status at the Joint Ceasefire Monitoring Post (JCMP) Balanaken post, a position offered to NP by the GRP-MILF Coordinating Committee on the Cessation of Hostilities in December 2007. During this period, seven barangay captains vacated their barangay to reinforce their activities in the other barangays of the municipality. To date, they have not yet returned to their homes/barangays and are now either living in a CVO (paramilitary) detachment in an adjacent barangay to Balanaken, or in Poblacion of the Datu Piang Municipality.
The NP Central Mindanao Team along with the International Monitoring Team and JCMP Balanaken post pacified the situation near Balanaken when there was a sudden increase in the numbers of paramilitaries in a CVO post which created fear and panic among the residents of the local barangays who decided to immediately pack and evacuate. NP CMT in consultation with the main office and in coordination with JCMP monitors visited the CVO detachment at Balanaken and informed the higher ranks of GRP MILF CCCH. After long discussions led by JCMP members from the Balanaken post, the CVOs assured that they will not fire any shot. The NP team informed the mayor office about the critical situation and got assurance that the situation would stay calm. NP team informed the civilians of the assurance given by the CVO. The local residents were reliefed and decided to stay in the area. The whole situation was controlled and pacified through a rapid response by NP and JCMP.
The NP Central Mindanao Team in collaboration with the main office contributed to control and verify the rumors which created panic among some of the barangay residents of Datu Saudi/Piang. The CMT through NP Communication Officer verified information, sought clarification of sources of information and established facts about the information through official JCCCH structures. It managed to minimize the cases of evacuation among local residents as well as built confidence among community members.
In coordination with the main office, the CMT visited the Joint Monitoring Assistance Team post in Kuloy of Mamasapano Municipality, the centre of International Monitoring Team site 1 lead by a team from Brunei. The team also visited the JMAT Rangeben post in the Municipality of Midsayap and shared experiences with the Malaysian team. NP has plans to gradually cover some of the areas of above mentioned municipalities.
NP CMT was requested by the local community to observe the negotiations between different groups on the issues of a stolen motorbike and carabao which fuelled tensions in the area close to NP field office premises.
Community leaders (Barangay officials, councilors, Imams, religious leaders as well as traditional leaders, youth and women) from three Barangays held a meeting in NP premises to further know the work of NP and identify the areas of collaboration. The meeting discussed not only NP’s objectives and mandate but also the involvement of the community in some of the activities such as sharing of information. The community leaders assured their full support to NP team and suggested regular meetings of such nature.
On the request of local communities residing in the vicinity of NP office, CTM held series of community meetings and discussed a range of issues including security, recreation, community organizations, and youth recreational activities.
NP Cotabato Main Office (CMO)
The NP CMO provided programmatic and operational support to both the field sites in order to ensure the continuity of work, and remained occupied in dealing with partner civil society organizations, donor organizations and different offices of the key parties in the Mindanao Peace processes. The NP CMO supported both field sites in building connections with the key parties in the conflict and helped the teams in controlling and preventing the rumours which were creating mere uncertainties in the already vulnerable situation. The CMO guided the teams in making interventions in the field as within the purview of NP mandate.
The NP CMO along with CMT participated in an orientation and oath taking workshop for local peace teams of Consortium of Bangsamoro Civil Society Organizations (CBCS) in the CBCS office in Cotabtao city. The workshop was attended by the heads of the secretariat of both GRP and MILF. The NP CMO along with the CMT provided initial training on early warning to early response to the same local peace teams.
The Project Director along with the representatives of the Mindanao People’s Caucus held a meeting with the Chief Commander of 6 ID in the city of Cotabato and discussed series of issues dealing with the present security situation, Balikatan exercises, and the role of CSOs in maintaining and building peace and areas of collaboration between Armed Forces of Philippines and CSOs.
The NP CMO held a series of meetings with the key Advisory Board Members and sought their suggestion on different programmatic collaboration issues. The Project Director along with the Communication officer held intensive sessions with the Board members and designed strategies on the planning and implementation of the Early Warning and Early Response System through Community intervention.
The NP CMO was briefed by the representatives of the Mindanao People’s Caucus on its decision of dedicating the year 2008 for Comprehensive Advocacy of the GRP – MILF peace process and the thorough implementation of the GRP – MNLF Final Peace Agreement 1996. The MPC extended invitation to NP to support the first ever Peace Caravan from Mindanao to Manila which MPC decided as the first launching activity of the Advocacy Campaign. The CMO received the request and informed MPC that NP would give official response after consultation with the Programme Director. (We will report on the Caravan in March.)
The Project Director and Communication Officer participated in meeting of international NGOs and International Organizations called by the Moro Islamic Liberation Front. The MILF welcomed all the international groups and introduced a new body of MILF, the Coordinating Council of Bangsamoro Civil Society Organizations (CCBCO).The CCBCO is an MILF body to closely monitor all the local and international organization working in the Moro areas and has plans to link local CSOs with international NGOs. The CCBCO along with International groups decided to meet on bi-monthly basis to share updates.
The NP CMO continued providing situation and security updates to the Protection/Human Security Network and maintained regular links with the key organizations and groups which are keenly interested in the Mindanao Peace Process.
(Written by Atif Hameed)