BUTUAN
CITY: Today is the 66thUN-declared Human Rights Day but violations and abuses
still linger, especially in Caraga region, says Karapatan.
The
human rights group disclosed a total 162 cases of violations and abuses
remained unsolved from November 2012 to present.
Karapatan,
joined in by the College Editors Guild of the Philippines (CEGP-Caraga Region),
said in their joint statement the violations still lingers on despite the Aquino
administration slogan of “Kayo ang boss ko.”
Intimidation
and harassment to ordinary and poor civilians still continue in the region up
to this day, with cases like trumped up charges against persons remained at 124
cases, the statement said.
Unsolved extra-judicial killings remained at 10
cases and another 10 for unsolved intimidation and harassment occurrences victimizing
poor farmers and individuals in the region, it added.
Karapatan-Caraga
spokesperson Eliza Rose Pangilinan said six waves of forced evacuations were
recorded by them while four incidents of illegal detention and two torture cases
by the AFP and PNP remain unsolved until now.
Aldrin
Egot, CEGP spokesperson, also claimed that while thousands are displaced by mining,
more than a third of the total land area in Caraga already had mining tenements
for mining operations while jobs and livelihood opportunities are still nowhere
to be found.
Ancestral
lands were destroyed and many remained poor and uneducated while only few
benefitted and became rich due mining, Egot said. (WITH REPORTS FROM Ben Serrano)