Japan Group Releases Report on Killings in Philippines

(3) Order of Battle

As Mr. Alston pointed out, there is also a list called the “Order of Battle”, which lists the names of people who are recognized as enemies of the state by the AFP. The list contains the names of many leftists and human rights lawyers. Significantly, those on the list have become targets of killings155. Despite the recommendation done by Mr. Alston, the Order of Battle has not publicly disclosed, nor abolished.

In four cases which the fact-finding mission investigated, the victims were listed in the “Order of Battle”.

Case 7: Mr. Ricardo Ramos

Case 8: Mr. Abelardo Ladera

Case11: Mr. and Mrs Albarillo

Case14: Mr. Diosdado Fortuna

Mr. Ricardo Ramos and Mr. Abelardo Ladera were killed in 2005 after being identified as enemies of the state in the “Order of Battle”. Mr. Ricardo Ramos was a local leader of legal activities and was killed in the Hacienda Lusita　massacre on 25 October 2005. Mr. Abelardo Ladera was a city council member who was killed in Tarlac on 3 March 2005.

Mr. Albarillo was informed by the military that his name was on in the list of the Order of Battle. He even visited the military camp to try to in an attempt to clear his name around two weeks before his killing.

The HRN fact-finding team finds those accounts to be reliable because the same remarks are found also from other internal documents of the military and/or police. For example, Ramos’s name is in “Knowing the Enemy”, a propaganda material produced by the AFP. Ladera’s name is in the “Trinity of War” issued by the AFP.

The HRN fact-finding team considers that there is no legitimacy for the government to list civilians including the four victims above in the “Order of Battle”. Such conduct endangers the right to life of the targeted civilians.

2. Oplan Bantay Laya

The fact-finding mission obtained a speech and its appendix concerning the “Oplan Bantay Laya (OBL, Operation Plan Freedom Watch)”, which is believed to have been made by the AFP to suppress rebellion. OBL recognizes the NPA, as well as communism, as a threat to the state and urges that the threat be thwarted. OBL has been around since January 2002. There are several points to be noted.

Firstly, it is remarkable that OBL targets organizations without differentiating between the NPA and legitimate legal organizations. It says all should be “neutralized”.

Secondly, a document labeled “Secret” and issued by the Headquarters Intelligence Service of the AFP on 24 September 2004 has a section of “Target Research.” It states that “All MIGs are required to come up with a COPLAN under the IP that will have a specific target and must be aimed at neutralization within a period of three months.”

Thirdly, a document printed “SECRET-OID Conceptual Framework”156 also has a “Target Research” section at the beginning that says: “This will be the basis in launching a COPLAN which sets a time frame of three months for neutralizing its target”. It also mentions a “Knowing the Enemies” campaign157.

　　　 Those documents suggest an operation plan to target legitimate leftist organizations and an aim to “neutralize” them in three months.

The term “neutralize” can be interpreted in many ways and it should be noted that the word is never defined in the aforementioned documents. However, the term has been used to imply assassination and extrajudicial killing.

It is not obvious if the executions of specific individuals are ordered by high ranking officials in the AFP or if lower ranking soldiers are interpreting “neutralization”. However, it is known that the AFP has a policy of neutralizing organizations the government considers enemies of the state158.

One such plan was set forth as Oplan Bantay Laya II in January 2007 and it is considered an extension of the previous plan. If the “neutralization” of targets is administered in the same way in the new plan, extrajudicial killings may continue.

The Arroyo government should clearly explain the substance and the intent of OBL, and the international community, including donor countries, should request this explanation. Additionally, the Philippine government should release the Order of Battle and clarify its purpose.

Civilians and activists must not be labeled as affiliated with the NPA nor should they be targeted by States without good reason or adequate evidence. It is a basic principle of international humanitarian law that a civilian who is not a direct participant in armed conflict should not be the target of an armed attack. The government must strictly differentiate between armed groups and civilian activists, and respect/protect the right to life of the latter under all circumstances.

If there is a policy to tolerate executions of legitimate civilian activists under the mandate of “neutralization”, the Arroyo government must stop this policy.

Even if the policy does not intend execution, its continuation makes legitimate civilian activists targets of armed attack in practice. In order to protect the fundamental human rights of civilian in the country, the Arroyo administration must put an end of the counter insurgency policy which links legal organization and activists to the insurgents, and target civilian for neutralization.