Lawyers say attacks on their ranks continue

A group of lawyers fears more attacks against fellow lawyers following the recent killing of a lawyer in Quezon City and death threats against three human rights lawyers, among them Romeo Capulong, counsel of the so-called "Batasan Five" lawmakers.

The Counsels for the Defense of Liberties (CODAL) said the murder of lawyer Evelyn Guballa on June 21 in Quezon City has brought to 25 the total number of legal professionals, including 10 judges, killed since President Arroyo took over the government in 2001. Guballa is the fourth lawyer to be killed this year.

CODAL also cited the threats against lawyer Romeo Capulong, who was ad litem judge in the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.

The lawyers’ group said Capulong was the target of another assassination when he went home to Nueva Ecija on June 25.

"Capulong only managed to escape this latest attempt on his life due to the timely warning given him by an informant," said lawyer Neri Javier Colmenares of CODAL.

Capulong believes that the assassination threat against him is related to his active role as counsel for the farm workers, employees and victims of the November 2004 massacre in Hacienda Luisita in Tarlac.

CODAL also cited the threat against lawyer Beverly Musni, a labor arbiter of the National Labor Relations Commission and secretariat head of a militant lawyers group, the Union of People’s Lawyers of Mindanao (UPLM) in Cagayan de Oro City.

Colmenares said Musni, who is reportedly in the military’s order of battle, was being tailed on the night of June 27 by men aboard a motorcycle on her way home with her daughter.

Musni is also said to be active in progressive human rights and people’s organizations like Karapatan and Bayan Muna, which were perceived as fronts of the communist rebel movement.

"This incident is serious considering that many of the 693 extra judicial killings since 2001 were committed by motorcycle-riding men," Colmenares said.

On June 23, lawyer Concepcion Jayme-Brizuela, of Kidapawan, North Cotabato and presently member of UPLM’s executive committee, reportedly received death threats through text messages.

Colmenares said the threats indicated that she is next in line after the killing of a couple involved in development work recently.

"These attacks and threats do not only affect the safety of these lawyers, but also harm the independent exercise of the legal profession, particularly by those handling cases involving human rights and military abuses," he said.

"We reiterate our call on President Gloria Arroyo to condemn the attacks against lawyers if only to show that her government does not tolerate such attacks."

Meanwhile, Colmenares said international lawyers organizations have found a pattern in the killing of human rights lawyers.

Based on the initial findings of the just-concluded independent International Fact-finding Mission, the international lawyers concluded that the "violence seems to be mainly directed to lawyers defending human rights or representing clients who are dissenting or protesting against a particular governmental policy." — Katherine Adraneda