A prominent rights watchdog on Wednesday urged the Philippine authorities to apprehend 80 people suspected of being involved in the 2009 Maguindanao massacre to ensure that the victims' families remain safe.
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 18th December, 2019) A prominent rights watchdog on Wednesday urged the Philippine authorities to apprehend 80 people suspected of being involved in the 2009 Maguindanao massacre to ensure that the victims' families remain safe.
On November 23 2009, in the Maguindanao province, a group of gunmen allegedly tied to the local Ampatuan political family, stopped a convoy of supporters of local politician Esmael Mangudadatu, who was running for governor against the Ampatuans' wishes. The supporters, including Mangudadatu's wife, were forcefully led to a nearby hill where they were gunned down and buried.
"The families of Maguindanao victims and witnesses will be at risk so long as suspects remain free ... Regardless of the verdicts in the case, Philippine authorities need to apprehend the several dozen suspects still at large," Phil Robertson, the deputy Asia director of the Human Rights Watch (HRW), said.
The legal proceedings against the attackers have been going on for 10 years, and the final rulings for 107 defendants are set to be released on Thursday. According to HRW, 80 suspects, including 14 Ampatuan family members, have not been arrested.
The watchdog added that throughout the trial, the victims' families had been subjected to threats and harassment � in three cases witnesses had turned up dead.
The country's police claim the suspects who remain at large have hidden themselves among the rebel groups in the southern Philippines.
