Victims Seek Justice As Church Leaders Uphold Human Rights Protection
14/5/08
Every Friday, Clarita Alia takes time off from selling vegetables to pray and light candles at a public cemetery. She visits the graves of her three sons, all stabbed to death in separate incidents between July 2001 and November 2002. “I am still hurting,” the mother told UCA News on May 11. “I have hatred in my heart,” she admitted, adding that she wants justice for her sons. Police reports say the three brothers were allegedly killed by members of a vigilante group after being involved in several pickpocket incidents in the city. A case has not been filed against the suspects, however, because of “uncooperative witnesses,” Alberto Sipaco of the regional Commission on Human Rights told UCA News. “They do not want to testify because of fear,” the lawyer explained. Alia, 56, runs a vegetable stall with her five remaining children at the biggest public market in Davao City, 965 kilometers southeast of Manila. She is also a member of Stop Summary Executions, an advocacy group composed of mothers whose children were victims of extrajudicial killings in the southern Philippines.
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Related UCAN Reports
Cardinal Reminds Police Of The Need To Respect Human Rights (May 8, 2006)
Compensation Of Human Rights Victims Seen As Step Toward Justice (February 24, 2005)
CBCP Opens Headquarters To Human Rights Violation Monitors (April 16, 2004)
Tags: Christianity, Human Rights, The Philippines