CHR cites 2 Navy execs in contempt

MANILA, Philippines—Apparently intending to send a clear signal that members of security forces should heed its summons, the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) has cited two Navy officers in contempt.

CHR officer in charge Cecilia Quisumbing said Navy Captains Antonio Habulan and Bayani Gaerlan, both former commanders of the Naval Intelligence and Security Force (NISF), were cited in contempt and fined P3,000 each for failure to attend several inquiries into the enforced disappearance of Muhamadiya Hamja.

The commission would “no longer tolerate obstructive and non-cooperative actions by the military and law enforcement agencies,” Quisumbing said in a statement Friday.

Quisumbing said the two officers have repeatedly ignored orders from the CHR to appear in four public hearings and to submit information on the case since December 12, 2008.

The CHR issued a final warning for the two officers to appear before the commission on July 9 and to produce the list of NISF and allied intelligence agency agents involved in the Hamja operation but they failed to do so.

Hamja was apprehended on November 28, 2008, by armed men in civilian clothes and forced into a white van after attending afternoon prayers at the Blue Mosque on Mindanao Avenue, Maharlika Village, Taguig City. After a futile search, Hamja’s relatives sought the help of the CHR through the civil society group Karapatan.

Ahmad Hamja, son of the abducted Hamja, filed a human rights complaint before the commission which ordered a team to visit the offices of law enforcement agencies.

On December 4, 2008, a team visited the headquarters of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) in Camp Crame and accidentally found Hamja in the office of Senior Inspector Wilfredo V. Sy.

Source: Inquirer