ENFORCED DISAPPEARANCE

What is Enforced Disappearance?

Enforced or involuntary disappearance refers to
the arrest, detention, abduction or any other
form of deprivation of liberty committed by
agents of the State or by persons or groups of
persons acting with the authorization, support
or acquiescence of the State, followed by a
refusal to acknowledge the deprivation of liberty
or by concealment of the fate or whereabouts of
the disappeared person, which places such
person outside the protection of the law.
HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATION DURING MARTIAL LAW

1972-1986
TOTAL CLAIMS OF HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS: 75,730
ENFORCED DISAPPEARANCE: 878
EXTRAJUDICIAL KILLINGS: 3,257
TORTURE CASES: 34,000
UNDOCUMENTED THOUSANDS OF ARBITRATRY ARREST

ENFORCED DISAPPEARANCE
EXTRAJUDICIAL KILLINGS
TORTURE
2 components of enforced disappearance
1. The abduction of a person by state
authorities or State sanctioned persons.
2. The denial or the concealment of the missing
person
 Public School Teacher
Abducted Late 70s
Subversion, Conspiracy to commit rebellion
Released mid 80s
Lack of evidence
 Founder of Cordillera Peoples Alliance (CPA)
James actively helped in the training and organization
of farmers.
He was also the President of Oclupan Clan Association
which undertakes the registration and documentation
of clan properties to protect their rights over ancestral
lands.
To prevent the atrocities done in the Marcos
Regime, the Philippines enacted REPUBLIC ACT
NO. 10353 or the Anti-Enforced or Involuntary
Disappearance Act of 2012.

Philippines is the first country in Asia to enact an

anti-enforced disappearance law.
 Status after the implementation of Anti-
Enforced or Involuntary Disappearance
Act of 2012
Recap: Marcos regime = 878 cases of Enforced Disappearances
According to the Asian Federation Against Involuntary Disappearance (AFAD) as of 2014:

around 2,300 people remain missing since the 1970s when martial law was declared in
the country

In the past five years alone, 26 people were reported to have gone missing in the
Philippines.

Effectivety of the Law? As of 2014

in August 12, 2014, retired army general, Jovito Palparan was

arrested
International Context
 RIGHTS VIOLATED:

Right to security;

Right to protection under the law;

Right not to be arbitrarily deprived of ones

liberty;
Recognition of the legal personality of every
human being;

Right against cruelty and torture.

 Who are the Victims?

The disappeared person.

The Family.

The society as a whole.

Purposes of Enforced Disappearance:
Enforced Disappearance as a means to eliminate
opponent and spread terror;

Enforced Disappearance of children to prevent the

opposition from growing;

Enforced Disappearances carried out by a

paramilitary group; and

Enforced Disappearance of people from whom

information relevant for Anti-Terrorism Purposes can be
extracted.
pinutol ang ari nya tapos pinag i-ice pick buong katawan-
-yung mababaw lang na ice pick para dahan dahan talaga
shang mamatay--pagkatapos biyakin ang bungo nya
Agapita Trajano

On Sept. 2, 1977, the bloodied body of Trajano

was FOUND on the streets of Manila.
Dr Juan Escandor was a young
doctor with UP-PGH who was
tortured and killed by the
Philippine Constabulary. When
his body was RECOVERED, a
pathologist found that his skull
had been broken open, emptied
and stuffed with trash, plastic
bags, rags and underwear. His
brain was stuffed inside his
abdominal cavity.
Her face was severely swollen.
Her lips bore cigarette burns.
She had 11 injection marks in
her arms and deep handcuff
marks on her wrists. Her torso
was badly bruised with finger
marks and gun-barrel marks. It
was also possible she was
sexually abused. FOUND dead
on April 1973.
SAD?

SCARY?
NEVER FOUND
NEVER FOUND
NEVER FOUND
NEVER FOUND
NEVER FOUND
RIGHT TO GRIEVE
RIGHT TO
PROPER BURIAL
R.A. 10353

AN ACT DEFINING AND PENALIZING:

ELEMENTS:

1) a victim is deprived of liberty;

2) the perpetrator is the State or
agents of the State; and
3) information on the whereabouts of
the victim is concealed or denied.
 SALIENT PROVISONS:

ORDER OF BATTLE ILLEGAL

3(c) Order of Battle refers to a document made by
the military, police or any law enforcement agency
of the government, LISTING THE NAMES OF
PERSONS AND ORGANIZATIONS THAT IT PERCEIVES
TO BE ENEMIES OF THE STATE AND WHICH IT
CONSIDERS AS LEGITIMATE TARGETS as combatants
that it could deal with, through the use of means
allowed by domestic and international law.
SEC. 5. Order of Battle or Any Order of Similar
Nature, Not Legal Ground, for Enforced or
Involuntary Disappearance. An Order of
Battle or any order of similar nature, official or
otherwise, from a superior officer or a public
authority causing the commission of enforced or
involuntary disappearance is unlawful and
cannot be invoked as a justifying or exempting
circumstance. Any person receiving such an
order shall have the right to disobey it.
Other key provisions of the law are:
-Recognizing the right to communication of any person deprived
of liberty to inform his or her family, friend, relative or lawyer
or human rights groups about his or her whereabouts and
condition;

-Requiring concerned public officers or private individuals to

immediately issue a written certification to an inquiring person
or entity on the presence or absence of the disappeared or
provide information on his or her whereabouts;

-Providing free access to a periodically updated register of all

detained or confined persons to those who have legitimate
interest in the information recorded in the register which the
Act requires to be maintained in all detention facilities;
-Holding liable the immediate commanding officer of the military
unit or the immediate senior police official for acts that led to the
commission of enforced disappearance by his or her subordinates;

-Requiring courts and government agencies to prioritize proceedings

related to the issuance of writs of habeas corpus, amparo and habeas
data;

-Mandating investigating officials or employees who learn that the

subject of their investigation is a victim of enforced disappearance to
disclose such information to his or her family, lawyer or human rights
organization;

-The bill imposes a penalty of life sentence equivalent to 20 years

and one day to 40 years imprisonment to perpetrators of enforced
disappearances.
 Who can be liable?
A.) those directly responsible for committing it; or
B.) A superior who-
i. Knew or disregarded the information that his
subordinates were committing or about to commit it;

ii. Exercised responsibility over activities concerned with

the disappearance; and

iii. Failed to take measure to prevent the commission

thereof
 Why is there a difficulty in
Implementing the LAW?

1. The offenders are State Actors

Power;

Influence;

Network
 Who is Jovito Palparan?

Major General Jovito Palparan was nicknamed the butcher.

Palparan is implicated in extrajudicial killings, torture, and enforced disappearances by

forces under his command in several regions between 2001 and 2005.

He has been charged with the kidnapping and torture in 2006 of two women, Sherlyn
Cadapan and Karen Empeno.

He is currently running for senator in the 2016 elections On December 14, 2015, the court
rejected Palparan's bid to be released on bail despite his plea that he is running for Senate.
2. Chain of Command Doctrine
3. Absence of corpus delicti.
The most painful goodbyes
are the one that are never said
and never explained.
-Unkown