UMDJ 5: Tales of torture from the hands of the military

[patsadahon]

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Torture tales recounted by UMDJ 5




05/26/2006

They were physically and mentally tortured, the five, who now have access to their counsels, told family, friends and reporters.

Subjected to physical torture was Ruben Dionisio, a barangay officer whom the military and police, as well as the state prosecutors said is a communist hit man, assigned to kill President Arroyo and key Cabinet officials, on the basis of the claim made by an alleged communist leader in Bulacan.

He is now confined at the police hospital in Crame.

The four, Virgilio Eustaquio, Jim Lucio Cabauatan, Dennis Ibuna, and Police Officer 3 Jose Justo Curameng, were also reported to have been mentally tortured, with some of the accused saying they were blindfolded for days, kept in confinement for days, were made to hear the screams of Dionisio being tortured; brought to a vehicle that reeked with gas, with their captors threatening to light the vehicle and burn them to a crisp.

Another time, they said, they were made to hear people around them digging the ground up while saying they would be buried alive, if they refused to confess to the crime of their plot to assassinate the top government officials.

Dionisio ealier accused authorities of physical torture, showing the reporters the bruises from the mauling he received from his abductors, but added that he was also tied to hang, where they hit him some more. Explaining the pinprick marks on his body, Dionisio told reporters that his abductors let out a school of ants to travel all over his body, where he was bitten.

Dionisio also accused his captors of torturing him by electrocuting his genitalia.

The five were snatched at 3 p.m. last Monday but it was only on Wednesday that the military admitted they were in its custody and had been charged with rebellion.

They were said to be planning to assassinate four Cabinet members whom reports had identified as Justice Secretary Raul Gonzalez, Presidential Chief of Staff Michael Defensor, Public Works Secretary Hermogenes Ebdane, and National Security Adviser Norberto Gonzales.

But allies of Mrs. Arroyo, Rep. Antonio Cuenco, defended the actions of the military, saying this was necessary.

“Our Armed Forces does not make any arrest whimsically,� Cuenco said, while Rep. Edwin Uy agreed, saying “It is a different matter when they plan to kill government officials for political ends.�

“The AFP did what it should in the face of an assassination plot against Cabinet officials,� he said, adding it is duty-bound “to protect the state and government.�

Commission on Human Rights (CHR) commissioner Wilhelm Soriano yesterday scored the military’s attempts to cover up the abduction since the incident took place last Monday.

“As far as the human rights aspect is concerned, definitely it was done out of process. It was very clear from the start because the families of the victims had sought our help from the beginning,� Soriano said during an interview over radio station dzXL.

He said this early, the operatives are already liable for violating human rights on at least two counts – for violating the Bill of Rights in the Constitution and in the legal system.

Soriano also scored Department of Justice (DoJ) Secretary Gonzalez for claiming it was “normal� to keep such operations secret, at least in the initial stages.

Gonzalez, in a separate interview on dzXL, also tried to downplay the claims of torture by the UMDJ members, saying “only one� of them was tortured.

“Out of five, only one was tortured,� he said. This was disputed by the four who said they were subjected to mental torture.

“Gonzalez showed a lawyer can change his principles depending on what side he’s on,� Soriano said.

A three-member team from the CHR went to the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (Isafp) headquarters in Camp Aguinaldo on Thursday morning to “examine and validate� the UMDJ members’ claims of physical and mental torture.

He said the Isafp has no excuse to bar the team because it already sent letters to the Isafp headquarters, AFP chief of staff Generoso Senga, defense secretary Avelino Cruz Jr., Isafp chief Calderon, and the camp commander.

“We anticipate they will give us the runaround,� he said. “We will keep monitoring what the military does.�

Soriano said the Isafp had already been playing a game of cover-up with the CHR since Monday afternoon, when the CHR tried to verify the abduction.

Meanwhile, United Opposition president Jejomar Binay today lashed out at the Arroyo administration for the apparent breakdown of law and order in the country, citing the rash of killings and mysterious abductions in the last few months.

Binay said the growing number of victims among the ranks of militants and journalists has prompted even the Amnesty International, a leading world human rights organization, to issue a formal protest regarding the recent developments.

“The deja vu is inescapable. It’s like we have come back to the decade of the 1970s during the first years of martial law, only worse,� Binay said. Even non-political crimes and street crimes have increased, according to the opposition leader.

http://www.tribune.net.ph/headlines/20060526hed2.html

When will all the abuses of the military stop?

[iloveyou4ever]

The military torture will end if this NPA's and their clan will end. Lets not only see the bad side of the military to be fair. Tan awon pud nato how these NPA's torture other people.

[patsadahon]

The military is employing torture. Let hear from Erap 5.

On Monday last week, elements of the Military Intelligence Group-15 (MIG-15) of the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines abducted Virgilio Eustaquio, chair of the pro-Estrada Union of the Masses for Democracy and Justice , Ruben Dionisio, Dennis Ibona, Jose Justo Curameng and Jim Cabauatan while they were gathered at the house of Eustaquio in Quezon City.

While AFP Information chief Col. Tristan Kison was denying any knowledge of the abduction and custody of the five, they were being subjected to torture.

Sixty-year old Dionisio said men took turns beating him while he was blindfolded and tied to a ceiling. They covered his head with a plastic bag and administered electric shocks to his genitals.

His claim is supported by bruises on his stomach, some looking like needle pricks and a red patch near his right kidney.

Dionisio said his torturers wanted him to admit that he was also Mike Gumera or Ruben Siamson, an officer of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army who they said was planning to assassinate cabinet members.

The beating stopped when he agreed he would admit to being a CPP official. He was given food. But the beating resumed when he failed to give names of people who composed the Metro-Rizal CPP chapter.

Eustaquio corroborated Dionisio’s ordeal. From where he was taken, also blindfolded, he said, he could hear the beating of Dionisio and the answers they were demanding from him.

"It went on the whole night. They didn’t allow us to sleep. If they saw us becoming sleepy, they hit us," he said.

Eustaquio said they were constantly being moved, a common technique by torturers to disorient the victims. They were first brought to a cold place, then to a hot place, then outside, in what they imagined as an open field because they could feel the grass and the wind. "We could smell gasoline. The hands that touched us were very cold. We could not understand what was happening. It was mental torture."

Cabauatan, a Quezon City policeman who just dropped by at Eustaquio’s place that Monday afternoon, said he was "treated like a dog" all throughout his detention. In what he felt was farmland, he could hear chopping, hammering and someone sharpening a blade. "I could stand the physical torture but the mental torture was what hurt most."

Cabautan has a brother who is a sergeant in the military. It pained him so much to be accused of being a communist. "I fight criminals and he (his brother) fights subversives and rebels," he said.


Tsk, tsk, tsk, the Army of Fascists in the Philippines in action.

[wanderlust]

Yeah right. How do you know they were really tortured, were you there? How do we know the injuries were not self-inflicted?

The Erap 5 are facing heavy charges of rebellion. These people would cry political persecution at the slightest opportunity, regardless of the strengh of evidence against them for their crimes.

[heavenearth]

mga bro,

Wala'y Tales of torture from the hands of the NPA's? katong pariha sa talibon, bohol ba nga ang mga military gikuhaan ug dunggan ug gilungguan ug liog sa mga npa.

Mao na ang tinoud.

[patsadahon]

Yeah right.Â* How do you know they were really tortured, were you there?Â* How do we know the injuries were not self-inflicted?

The Erap 5 are facing heavy charges of rebellion.Â* These people would cry political persecution at the slightest opportunity, regardless of the strengh of evidence against them for their crimes.

There were bruises. There were signs of physical torture. Heavy chrges of rebellion. HOw heavy? Like there are tons nd tons of evidence? The DOJ even discharged them. They are not charged with rebellion in the first place. I think we should check our data before we post here.

[lalakingbisdak]

Yeah right. How do you know they were really tortured, were you there? How do we know the injuries were not self-inflicted?

The Erap 5 are facing heavy charges of rebellion. These people would cry political persecution at the slightest opportunity, regardless of the strengh of evidence against them for their crimes.

There were bruises. There were signs of physical torture. Heavy chrges of rebellion. HOw heavy? Like there are tons nd tons of evidence? The DOJ even discharged them. They are not charged with rebellion in the first place. I think we should check our data before we post here.

Pwedi mana himo himoon ra ang mga bruises just to show to the people nga kuno they were tortured. NPA's style ba kunohay. Pati ang Senate mga KSP gihapon kay sige lang ug investigate aning mga hitabo which is just a waste of money nato. Why not focus to make law or something. While other countries are thinking about their future and for their progress, Philippines is wasting money sa senate to investigate all these nonsense things. Only in the Philippines tsk tsk tsk.

[SPRINGFIELD_XD_40]

Muted na man pero another COMMUNIST na multiple SN's na pod ni si PATSADAHON . Like torture only existed only yesterday morning .

[marke]

Yeah right.Â* How do you know they were really tortured, were you there?Â* How do we know the injuries were not self-inflicted?

The Erap 5 are facing heavy charges of rebellion.Â* These people would cry political persecution at the slightest opportunity, regardless of the strengh of evidence against them for their crimes.

There were bruises.Â* There were signs of physical torture. Heavy chrges of rebellion.Â* HOw heavy? Like there are tons nd tons of evidence? The DOJ even discharged them.Â* They are not charged with rebellion in the first place. I think we should check our data before we postÂ* here.

Pwedi mana himo himoon ra ang mga bruises just to show to the people nga kuno they were tortured. NPA's style ba kunohay. Pati ang Senate mga KSP gihapon kay sige lang ug investigate aning mga hitabo which is just a waste of money nato. Why not focus to make law or something. While other countries are thinking about their future and for their progress, Philippines is wasting money sa senate to investigate all these nonsense things. Only in the Philippines tsk tsk tsk.

Lyk wounds at your back? ? ?

[wanderlust]

Yeah right. How do you know they were really tortured, were you there? How do we know the injuries were not self-inflicted?

The Erap 5 are facing heavy charges of rebellion. These people would cry political persecution at the slightest opportunity, regardless of the strengh of evidence against them for their crimes.

There were bruises. There were signs of physical torture. Heavy chrges of rebellion. HOw heavy? Like there are tons nd tons of evidence? The DOJ even discharged them. They are not charged with rebellion in the first place. I think we should check our data before we post here.

Maybe you're the one who should check your information before posting here. That they were released doesn't mean they are off the hook. They remain suspects to an alleged plot to assassinate GMA and some of her cabinet officials.