Detained coup plotters to file human rights complaint?

The six Marine officers implicated in the aborted Feb. 24 coup try are reportedly planning to file a complaint before the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) to protest the heavy restrictions at the Navy detention center in Fort San Felipe, Cavite City, military sources disclosed yesterday.

Sources said that except for their wives, other visitors of detained Cols. Ariel Querubin, Orlando de Leon and Januario Caringal and Lt. Cols. Custodio Parcon, Armando Bañez and Achilles Segumalian were banned by Navy authorities.

Jail officials also seized the cellular phones of the detained officers, who were also barred from communicating with outsiders using military lines.

"Langit na lang ang kanilang nakikita doon dahil sa bukod sa mataas ang bakod, may mga nakapatong pang mga yero at barbed wire sa itaas at bawal silang tumanggap ng bisita, (The only thing they see is the sky because aside from the high walls, there are barbed wire and iron sheets. They also cannot receive visitors)," the source said.

The lawyers of the six detainees are thinking of raising the issue to the CHR to test the limits of restrictions that can be imposed on military detainees.

The source said Maj. Gen. Renato Miranda could have also been detained under the same restrictions, but his stature as a former Marine commandant gave him more privileges.

Miranda is detained at the Fort Bonifacio Naval Station in Taguig.

Navy chief Vice Admiral Mateo Mayuga ordered the transfer of the six alleged coup leaders, except Miranda, to Cavite City last Oct. 28.

"Considering his stature as a former commandant (of the Marine Corps) he (Miranda) shall remain restricted in his present confinement but under guard," Mayuga said in his directive to transfer Querubin and the other Marine officers to Cavite.

Miranda and the six officers were implicated in the failed coup plot against the Arroyo administration.

Military investigators recommended court-martial proceedings against Miranda and the six Marine officers and 25 Army Scout Ranger officers led by former commander Brig. Gen. Danilo Lim.

Miranda and Chief Superintendent Marcelino Franco, former commander of the Philippine National Police (PNP) Special Action Force (SAF), were identified by then Army commanding officer and now Armed Forces chief Gen. Hermogenes Esperon Jr. as among the key leaders of the failed coup. Esperon, Miranda and Franco were classmates at the Philippine Military Academy (PMA) Class of 1974.

Esperon claimed that Querubin and Lim tried to convince former AFP chief Gen. Generoso Senga, now retired, to join them (coup plotters) and provide the necessary leadership.

Meanwhile, the six Marine officers detained at Fort San Felipe complained that aside from the high walls reinforced with barbed wire and galvanized metal sheets, monitoring devices were also installed inside the detention compound.

The source said the six detainees are under constant watch by eight guards who escort them around the compound while Navy sentries are posted on three gates leading to the detention building.

"No cellphone, no Internet... no everything. So what can their family do now? No more rights. How can they communicate with their families and lawyers?" said the source.

Speaking at the Marines’ 56th Anniversary last Wednesday, Mayuga commended the Marines for "not succumbing to temptations."

Mayuga expressed gratitude to the Marines for standing by him during the crucial Feb. 24 and Feb. 26 events.

"There were crucial times when the Marines’ indomitable spirit was tested. Not a few times in this year alone was your resolve challenged to the edge. But did you crumble? Never," Mayuga said.