Marawi siege: Maute militants reportedly holding priest, civilians hostage

An armoured personnel carrier belonging to government troops drives along a main highway of Pantar town, Lanao Del Norte, as it travels to reinforce Marawi city on May 24, 2017. Source: Reuters/Romeo Ranoco

24th May 2017

OFFICIALS in the Philippines are verifying reports claiming a Catholic priest and several parishioners have been taken captive by members of the Islamic State-linked Maute militant group.

The information came from Marawi Bishop Edwin de la Pena, who claimed to have received a call on Tuesday night from one of the captors who introduced himself as “a member of the ISIS”.

During the call, the militant demanded a unilateral ceasefire in Marawi city, Mindanao, between security forces and the group’s members, or the hostages would be killed, the prelate said.

“They want a ceasefire and for the military to give them access out of Marawi. Otherwise, they will kill the hostages,” De la Pena was quoted saying in CBCP News, the official news website of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines.

He said the call was placed just before 8pm via his secretary’s phone, who is said to be one of the hostages. It is not immediately known how many hostages were taken although an ABS-CBN News report says apart from the priest, at least 13 others were taken.

SEE ALSO: Philippines’ Duterte declares martial law in Mindanao, halts Russia trip

The Maute group reportedly forced their way into the Cathedral of Our Lady Help of Christians and abducted Father Chito Suganob, vicar-general of the prelature of Marawi, the parish secretary, two students and 10 other parishioners. They later torched the cathedral.

De la Pena said the Maute militant allowed him to speak to Suganob to make sure he was clear of their demands.

The Maute militant allowed De la Pena to speak to Suganob (pictured) to make sure he was clear of their demands. Source: Facebook

According to local media, however, Philippine authorities have yet to confirm the abductions.

The Philippine Star said since martial law was declared in Mindanao, conflicting statements and reports of the situation in Marawi City had emerged.

The daily quoted Defence Secretary Delfin Lorenzana as claiming the Marawi city hall was burned during the siege, but Marawi mayor Majul Usman Gandamra denied this.

God Protect Us 💔‏ @konkonmgt

ISIS destroying Marawi City the Muslims area. ISIS and Maute Group aren't Muslims and Islamic Religion #PrayForMarawi #PrayForPhilippines

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"Marawi is not okay! We are being burned down!" -@RickoDima http://cnn.ph/2q98Ili  #PrayForMarawi

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The mayor also did not confirm reports on the abductions.

ABS-CBN News in its report said local authorities were still in the process of verifying the claims.

Philippine authorities, responding to concerns over the declaration of martial law in Mindanao, insist the move was necessary.

In a statement published by Inquirer, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said, “In order to suppress lawless violence and rebellion and for public safety, it is necessary to declare Martial Law in the entire island of Mindanao including Sulu, Jolo and Tawi-Tawi for a maximum of 60 days.

“The Philippine government is in full control, and fully aware the Maute Group/ISIS groups have the capability (although limited) to disturb the peace. They have shown no hesitation in causing havoc, taking innocent lives and destroying property.”

ABS-CBN News‏Verified account @ABSCBNNews

READ: DFA statement on the declaration of Martial Law in Mindanao | via @willardcheng

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SEE ALSO: Philippines: Duterte’s hometown Davao City in lockdown

State media similarly quoted the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) as saying the implementation of martial law would be done in accordance with existing laws and respect for human rights.

“Declaration of martial law does not mean abuse of authority. We will do it in accordance with the existing law and respect for human rights,” public affairs office chief Col. Edgard Arevalo said in a briefing on Wednesday, as quoted by the Philippine News Agency.

He also stressed militants – not law-abiding citizens – are the targets of the martial law.

A government soldier inspects a motorcycle driver at a checkpoint along a main highway in Pantar town, Lanao del Norte, after residents started to evacuate their hometown of Marawi city, southern Philippines, on May 24, 2017. Source: Reuters/Romeo Ranoco

Earlier, Human Rights Watch (HRW) expressed concern President Rodrigo Duterte’s declaration of martial law would lead to rights abuses.

“The Filipino people, having suffered martial law under the Marcos dictatorship, fully appreciate the important role played by human rights activists, the legal community, and the independent media in defending rights,” HRW Asia division deputy director Phil Robertson said in a statement.

The Philippines was under martial law for a decade under late dictator Ferdinand Marcos from the early 1970s.

On Tuesday, Duterte, a Mindanao native, cut short his Russia trip and declared martial law in Mindanao following clashes between the Maute group and government forces. The clash started on Tuesday at Barangat Basak, Malutlut, when local forces learnt of the presence of Abu Sayyaf leader Isnilon Hapilon. The IS-linked Abu Sayyaf group is responsible for piracy and kidnap-for-ransom activities in the waters bordering the Philippines and Malaysia.

Reports say at least two soldiers and a policeman have been killed while 12 were injured during the standoff in Muslim-majority Malawi. Images of IS flags being hoisted across the city have also made its way on social media, sparking the #PrayForMarawi hashtag. 

'Most are toddlers': Dozens die as refugee boat founders off Libya

The migrants were on a wooden boat carrying as many as 700 people 20 nautical miles of the Libyan coast

A still from a video taken by a member of the rescue crew (Twitter)

AFP-Wednesday 24 May 2017

At least 30 migrants including young children drowned on Wednesday when they fell off an overloaded vessel in the Mediterranean, where tensions are rising between aid ships and the Libyan coastguard.

"There's a critical situation today. About 200 people fell into the water," a coastguard spokesman told AFP, while a humanitarian worker at the scene said 31 bodies had been recovered.

The migrants were on a wooden boat carrying between 500 and 700 people and were just 20 nautical miles off the Libyan coast when the accident happened.

The boat listed suddenly, sending about 200 people tumbling into the Mediterranean, Italian coastguard commander Cosimo Nicastro told Reuters.

The crew of the Phoenix aid boat, chartered by the Maltese NGO Moas, had begun the rescue and were distributing lifejackets when many of those on deck fell into the water, perhaps knocked off balance by a wave.

Body Count now at 34...Most are toddlers pic.twitter.com/FlQ0V6PliA

— Chris Catrambone (@cpcatrambone) May 24, 2017

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Body Count now at 34...Most are toddlers

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"Not a scene from a horror movie... Real life tragedy unfolding on Europe's doorstep today," said Chris Catrambone, Moas co-founder, who was aboard the Phoenix and published photos showing white body bags lined up on the deck.

"Rescuers are frantically trying to break open the locked hold on a wooden boat where hundreds of migrants are trapped!" he tweeted.

With the help of an Italian coastguard ship and several commercial ships, rescuers raced to drag as many people as possible from the water, while a military aircraft dropped life-rafts and a helicopter looked for survivors.

"Current body count at 31," Catrambone said, adding many who fell overboard had been "small toddlers".

'Shots fired'

About 15 relief operations were under way Wednesday off Libya in total, the coastguard said.

On Tuesday, they coordinated the rescue of about 1,500 people, while their Libyan counterparts intercepted 237 others, including 20 women and 15 children, travelling on two wooden boats.

Among the migrants was a group of 12 Libyans - including five women and three children - who were trying to flee the conflict-hit country. Libyans have been a rare sight on migrant boats so far.

The German NGO Jugend Rettet said on Tuesday it had had a run-in with armed men on a boat purportedly commandeered by the Libyan coastguard.

The Libyan boat already had passengers on board - presumably picked up from a dinghy in the area.

Jugend Rettet published a photograph appearing to show the armed men pointing their weapons directly at the migrants and said "a variety of shots" were fired "and refugees were beaten".

Some 100 people on the Libyan boat panicked when the shots rang out and threw themselves into the water, swimming towards the German boat Iuventa and the SOS Mediterranee boat Aquarius, which was also at the scene.

"We cannot say whether and how many dead there were in the shooting. We had to be careful not to get a bullet ourselves," Jugend Rettet said in a statement citing the Iuventa's 25-year old captain Jonas, without giving his surname.

The Libyan coastguard has recently begun carrying out its own operations at sea, towing migrant dinghies headed for Europe back to shore and locking up those recovered in centres which are renowned for human rights abuses.

Yemen war: Major cholera epidemic feared, says charity

Children in Sanaa receiving treatment for cholera symptoms

22 May 2017

A major epidemic of cholera is feared in Yemen, according to charity Save the Children.

Almost 250 people have died of the disease this month alone, with hundreds of suspected cases being reported every day, it says.

The World Health Organization said the water-borne illness is spreading at an alarming rate in the war-torn country.

Sanaa has been the worst affected area, with a state of emergency declared in the rebel-held capital last week.

Save the Children fears thousands of people could die of the easily treatable disease, and said more than two million malnourished children are particularly at risk.

• How bad is the humanitarian crisis?
• Yemen crisis: Who is fighting whom?

Cholera is a water-borne disease that is transmitted through contaminated water and food.
Symptoms include acute diarrhoea and vomiting. People ill with cholera can become very sick and, when it is left untreated, death can occur within hours.

Charity Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), which has set up cholera treatment centres in the country, also fears the outbreak will spiral out of control.

"Before the outbreak, the health system was already overstretched and people's health needs were already huge," says Ghassan Abou Chaar, MSF's head of mission in Yemen.

"To bring the outbreak under control, it won't be enough simply to treat those people who reach medical facilities. We also need to address the source of the disease, by improving water and sanitation and working in communities to prevent new cases."

Image captionChildren collect safe drinking water in Sanaa

The WHO says fewer than 45% of health facilities are fully functioning in Yemen, with almost 300 damaged or destroyed in fighting between forces loyal to President Abdrabbuh Mansour Hadi - who is backed by a Saudi-led multinational coalition - and those allied to the Houthi rebel movement.

Save the Children said all sides in the conflict should end restrictions on the import of aid immediately.
More than eight million people lack access to drinking water and sanitation.

Image captionMSF said local health authorities alone might not be able to deal with the surge

More than 8,000 people - mostly civilians - have been killed and close to 44,500 others injured since the conflict in Yemen escalated in March 2015, according to the UN.

The fighting has also left 18.8 million people in need of humanitarian assistance.

SRI LANKA: MEMORIALISATION IS PART OF THE RECONCILIATION PROCESS – NATIONAL PEACE COUNCIL

Image: Eastern Uni students observed Mullivaaikaal commemoration inside campus premises on 18th May. @garikaalan.

23/05/2017

(NPC) The court injunction against a commemoration in Mullivaikkal in the North of those who lost their loved ones in the last battle of the war on May 18 highlights a problem that needs resolution. In the South the government commemorated the security forces personnel who lost their lives in the war.

The police sought the court order to block the commemorative event organized by a civil society group led by Fr Elil Rajendram that sought to memorialize those who lost their lives in the last battle of the war by placing stones with the names of those who lost their lives.  At present the Mullivaikkal area, where the last battle of the war was fought, is without any monument to remember those who died there.

For the parents and family members of fallen LTTE cadre and others who lost their lives during the war, they would still be their kith and kin whom they wish to remember.  All persons and communities have a right to cry and grieve for family and community members killed, to erect monuments, privately and publicly, individually and collectively. For many families and friends whose loved ones were killed, this is a way to heal their painful past and move towards the future.

 The government needs to deal with the problem that there is no memorial or monument in Mullivaikkal for those who lost their lives in the last battles.  There is a need for such a memorial and the government should not prevent the people who lost their lives from having such a memorial.  There are memorials put up by the government to honor the security forces who lost their lives in the North. The National Peace Council calls on the government to take a step forward in the reconciliation process and engage with both elected representatives in the North and East and with civil society groups to jointly design an appropriate memorial.

We also wish to express our concern at the treatment meted out to Fr Elil Rajendram who was one of the main organizers of the commemoration event.  Fr Elil received summons from both the Vavuniya and Mullaitivu police stations. This would most likely be to harass and intimidate him and also to send a message to the other activists that the same could happen to them too.

Such intimidatory methods were used during the period of the previous government and were rejected by the people at the last elections.  We urge the government to be true to its pledges of good governance and protection of human rights even when it deals with politically controversial matters.

Northern Province Development: My Preferences

By C.V. Wigneswaran –MAY 23, 2017

C.V. Wigneswaran

A few years ago a group of officials from the Northern Provincial Council met a farmer in Vavuniya and asked for his preferences in respect of some matter. The old man braced himself up, looked at the officials and said “Sirs! I am 78 years old. This is the first time I am hearing of officials wanting to note down what my preferences are. Hitherto you decided what was best for me. Never asked me what I want”.

Government Economic Development Programme and Jaffna District Development Projects under the Chairmanship of Prime Minister Hon’ Ranil Wickremesighe at the Jaffna District Secretariat on 19th May 2017 at 3 pm views of Chief Minister, Northern Province:

Hon’ Prime Minister, Hon’ Ministers, Hon’ Members of Parliament, Hon’ Members of Northern Provincial Council, High officials of Central and Provincial Services, my dear brothers and sisters,

We are pleased to have the Hon’ Prime Minister discussing with Political Representatives and our Officials the Government Economic Development Programme and Jaffna District Development Projects. This is a process we have been agitating for and not long ago in this very Hall we had Hon’ Malik Samarawickrama taking the trouble to find out our point of view before embarking on Economic Development Programmes and Projects which related to his Ministry to establish a National Program of 2000 Entrepreneurs for the whole Island of whom 200 were to be from the North. 

Sir, there are a few matters with regard to the psyche of the Tamils of Sri Lanka that you must understand. At my age I believe I am qualified to express same. You would realize from around 1956 when the “Sinhala only” Act was foisted on us, the Tamils of the North and East preferred to critically engage the Government in power rather than approve of an enduring partnership with them except during the short spell in 1965 under the Prime Ministership of Hon’ Dudley Senanayake. As a result the electorates in the North and East suffered due to lack of economic endowments from the Centre. When it was decided to end this period of lethargy and indifference towards the North and East and a positive engagement was opted for what irked the Northern and Eastern Tamils was the “top to bottom” attitude of the Centre.

A few years ago a group of officials from the Northern Provincial Council met a farmer in Vavuniya and asked for his preferences in respect of some matter. The old man braced himself up, looked at the officials and said “Sirs! I am 78 years old. This is the first time I am hearing of officials wanting to note down what my preferences are. Hitherto you decided what was best for me. Never asked me what I want”.

That sums up how the Tamils have felt so far after the end of the war. You must realize that we apportion more importance to the attitude of the Centre rather than their lavish largesse. When we found a discriminative design on the part of the Centre in the post 1956 period we resorted to non – violent struggle openly rather than deign deceptive co-operation in order to obtain our lost rights. It was only when non – violence failed that violence took charge. But it must be remembered that generally we are, as a unit of people with special characteristics of our own, trustworthy, provided you recognized our talents and temperaments. We are as a Nation conscious of our antiquity and our ancient classical language. The older generation among us still approve of the adage “high thinking and simple living”.

All this introduction brings me to the matters at hand. Our Economic Development must ensure that we the people of this Province are at the helm of our own affairs. We cannot be used as a vassal Province for the benefit of wayward investors. We are proud of our heritage; we like to live a life of our own rather that be dictated to by outsiders. But we are most certainly willing to join in earnest co –operation in the economic field, like in co – operative federalism in the field of politics.

Hence there are a few important policy considerations we like to discuss with Your Honour.

In the aftermath of the war there has been certain major infrastructural development already in place. But our Rural areas have been neglected. We must empower our rural folk to have access to markets in the Agricultural and Fisheries Sector while they preserve their rural innocence and simplicity.

In working out our Industries we would prefer not to use our natural resources internally available if alternatives from elsewhere could be procured or purchased. Release of productive lands from the Armed Forces must be a followed by rapid economic development based on knowledge and technology transfer bearing in mind our immediate and future needs.

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Did IGP intervene in Gnanasara’s arrest?

May 23, 2017

The General Secretary of the Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara, was about to get arrested following the operation jointly led by the Police and the Special Task Force that caught him nearby the Badagamuwa thicket in Kurunegala.

 It was alleged that Gnanasara and a team were behind the attack targeting a mosque in Kurunegala on May 20. According to reliable sources of the Kurunegala Police, law enforcement could not arrest him because the Inspector General of Police intervened.

Even sources from the STF confirmed that when the Police and the STF team led by Superintendent of Police Priyantha Liyanage went to arrest Gnanasara and others, IGP Pujitha Jayasundara has ordered the officers over a telephone conversation abandon the arrest attempt and free Gnanasara and others.

Galagoda Aththe Gnanasara will face a legal case on May 24 at the Court of Appeal against an alleged contempt of court. He is well aware of the highly possible final result of the case which has currently led him to create incidents that would give rise to empathetic feelings among the public towards him. The Appeal Court case will be examined by Judge Preethi Padman Soorasena. Saving true Buddhism and Buddhists from drunkard cladded in yellow robes is now in the hands of the Court of Appeal. The public trust is placed on Judge Soorasena for the right decision and allow the true Buddhists to live peacefully.