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NEWS & LETTERS,
August-September 2002
War on ‘terror’ hits innocent in Philippines
An American soldier, accompanied by Philippine troops,
shot Buyong Buyong Isnijal, a 27-year-old Muslim of the Lakan tribe on the
southern Philippine island of Basilan during a midnight operation on July 25.
U.S. troops have been on the island for more than seven months hunting for
members of the Abu Sayaf, a militant Islamic fundamentalist group that has
largely turned to kidnapping for ransom and banditry. The American soldier, identified as Reggie Harris,
accompanied by two Filipino troops, broke down the door to the Isnijal house and
shot Mr. Isnijal in the left leg. Family members, including Jurida Isnijal, his
wife, witnessed the unprovoked shooting. After the group of soldiers took Mr.
Isnijal away, Ms. Isnijal interrupted an International Solidarity Mission
meeting on Basilan in order to report the emergency. The mission is
investigating human rights violations stemming from Philippine and U.S. military
operations in the region. The Filipino troops explained that they had found a
rifle in a neighbor’s house. Mr. Isnijal, bleeding, denied that he owned a gun
or that he knew of any rifle that belonged to any of his neighbors. The soldiers
then began cleaning his wound. As the rest of the family watched, the soldiers
then took him out of the house and said that they were taking him to a nearby
hospital. Ms. Isnijal tried to follow, but the soldiers said that she must wait
until the following morning to visit her husband. When she went to the hospital
a few hours later, she was informed that the soldiers had already taken Mr.
Isnijal to a military barracks. Liza Maza, Secretary General of Gabriela, the
revolutionary women’s group, and a congressional representative of the left
electoral party Bayan Muna, said that the military has been getting away with
shocking human rights abuses just by citing the campaign to subdue and defeat
Abu Sayaaf. “The Philippines armed forces have become even more abusive and
arrogant because of the training exercises they have been conducting with the
U.S. troops. This is one other compelling reason why the U.S. troops should
leave the country immediately and why the Balikatan [shoulder-to-shoulder]
exercises should be permanently terminated. Civilians are being victimized while
the Abu Sayaaf continues to thumb their noses at the military.” --R. Russell |
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