Media killings: Gov’t inaction ‘encourages attacks’

“Impunity. Perhaps no word defines the experiences of Latin America as well as this one. Lack of punishment, of investigation, of justice. The possiblity of committing crimes - from common robberies to rape, torture, murders - without having to face, much less suffer, any punishment. And therefore, the implicit aproval of the morality of these crimes. Forgiving and forgetting without remembering - or remembering too well, but not caring - that what is forgotten will be repeated. As thus what is done without any punishment, can be repeated without fear.” http://www.derechos.org/nizkor/impu/eng.html

Journalists at Risk

“This Website is a testament towards the commitment journalists have made to perserve the right to information.
Many have died in this effort. To make sure that their deaths were not in vain, this Website was made to honor their memories and struggle and to prevent crimes like this from happening again.” http://www.impunidad.com/atrisk/mainE.html

Nowadays, I have learned that it needs only as low as P 5.000.00 to hire somebody to kill a person. This shows that aside from many reasons given why in our country there are ramphant killings, poverty could be the main one. Many of our people are so poor that just to survive one could be tempted easily to accept a considerable amount for survival to kill a person, especially if the one who conspires murder is very powerful and is assured of protection!

Ideologies, even if already passe, kindle the fire of our oppressed people to see that killings or violence could be the only solution for structural change.

Unless, this country learns to love its own people as themselves, all the evils - to the point of murdering a fellow Filipino would only be as normal as to struggle for survival.

Sociologically, one could view root cause: poverty caused by non loving and therefore corruption and the affirmation of ones own power and egoistic identity without considering that we belong all to to same human family.

I don’t think that saying it’s the “culture of impunity” is the reason why the killings continue to happen.
People do what they do because they can “get away” from it.
Normaly people can get away w/ things because “people look the other way”.
I think that it’s a given that our police agencies do not have the proper training on how to build a case that will stand in court.Starting from gathering evidence.
But the police can only do so much w/o witneses to step forward.
It’s not alone about the police being incompitent. It’s also about the police not getting cooperation from the people.
Sadly, it seems our culture takes advantage of issues to get back at goverment alone.Unfortunatly everything is seen as an oppurtunity to dramatize issues.
On the issue of “sort of journalist” being killed.
Why don’t the really legitimate journalist work & find credible people to give evidence so as to help to solve the case.
Insted, all the public is being given a long list of “they say” are journalist.
How can the public really know if indeed their death is work related?
Certainly every human life is important, journalist or not.
Certainly the death of innocent people must be condemmed.
But I’m completely against deaths that are exploited for “other” ends.
If those people who are killed are truely so important.
How come there seems to be nobody to come forward & provide infomation?
How come there seems to be a “see no evil, hear no evil” silence.
The only noise there is are the protest, perceptions & finger pointing.
Or using the issues to further discredit goverment.
As if the deaths are used for other ends.
To say it’s the “culture of impunity” is over simplifying matters when so many other ways of solving & understanding the problem have not even been exhausted.

I think, if you look at the overall picture of criminal justice, it is more of impotence, incompetence, complacency, and the value we put on human lives nowadays. Ours is a “selective” type of justice. If you happen to be be in the wrong place in the wrong time, then too bad ( meaning if you are rich, have connections, and can afford to hire good lawyers before and after, you’re lucky, but not 100%). Most committing these type of crimes, take a very little risk of getting caught or brought to bear the consequence. This is true on any side, provided you are at the right place and at the right time. And vengeance is sweet and the cycle continues…

[...] []… Media killings: Gov’t inaction ‘encourages attacks’ June 2, 2006 at 10:24 am · Posted by Vinia Datinguinoo Filed under Media Issues, In the News [...]

[...] in PCIJ [...]

Naykika, but do you really think we will ever know who did it or who is doing the killing?
Do you really think one day anyone will ever come forward or maybe just an annonimus tip will ever come?
Yes, sadly it’s really a “selective justice” system.
the thing w/ selective justice is that it’s bad for one party but has advanteges for another.
All the m ore reason to beleave that this killings are not just about the sad individuals but there is something more to it.
I’m suer there are people who know something.
Solving crimes boils down to witneses.
Just to solve the crime of who was behind Ninoy A. killing, to this day all we know is that there are people in jail who where used.But can we really say who was the mastermind.
Imagine how far we can ever go w/ journalist we don’t even know if they are really journalist.

Please note on my adove trackback a rather major case of word redunancy! May all my english teachers forgive me! - I have five emails about it already!!!

Anyhow title changed.to “The Impunity”…

anyhow I wanted to note something there has been increased interest in this issue from overseas. Both my US and UK editors seem to be looking at the scene closely - (aside from ribbing me on my blog titles!) expect to see a lot more in print and on TV abroad it seems the AI and other groups.

Joselu, nowadays good police works can solve and secure a conviction for crimes with evidence other than witneses. It can even put the perpetrator on the scene of the crime with DNA, fingerprints and other forensic eveidence. Even circumstancial evidence can secure a conviction. And the sherlock holmes of them can even trace the “brain” behind. I can give you a case where a conviction was sussessfully obtained even without the “body of the victim”. Sometimes it is better than witnesses who lie to their teeth and have eyes but are blinded by-you know what..

Right, Naykika. Scene-of-the-crime ops manned by well-equipped, well-trained and well-motivated cops are more often enough to identify perpetrators. I’m surprised, thousands of slugs and spent shells in crime scenes never had a match with PNP’s ballistics database.

I think no journalist-murder case ever produced any suspect unless there was an eyewitness to the actual crime. What a lame police force.

I said it before and will say it again. This govt does not give a hoot whatever happened to those murdered journalists because they served as lessons to be learned. This govt has tried to localize the issue, that those assassinations were committed in provincial areas, has reduced the issues to local political conflicts or personal animosity, and, like a subliminal message, it is also like telling journalists what awaits them if they continue being critical of the govt. .

[...] CMFR has repeatedly needled the Arroyo government to address the issue of violent attacks against journalists. Recently, its Executive Director, Melinda Quintos de Jesus, again said the government must “undertake extraordinary measures” to pursue the killers of journalists and activists. She said the official “inertia” encourages the attacks. Reporters Without Borders (Reporters Sans Frontieres or RSF), meanwhile, also decried the latest killings. “The Philippines is one of the most dangerous countries in the world for journalists,” RSF said. “We call on the police to deploy all the necessary resources to identify and punish those responsible for these murders.” [...]