'Massacre a culmination of decades of government inaction'

BAGUIO CITY, Philippines – A five-day international fact finding mission led by the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) in Maguindanao described the Nov. 23 massacre of 57 individuals, including more than 30 journalists, as “the culmination of decades of government inaction on the killing of journalists.”

“It underlines the terrible dangers that Filipino journalists face,” said the fact-finding mission’s initial report, a copy of which was obtained by The STAR.

IFJ official representative Mike Dobbie was joined by representatives from leading journalists’ rights and press freedom organizations like the Southeast Asia Press Alliance (SEAPA), the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), Indonesia’s Alliance of Independent Journalists (AJI), Australia’s Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance, the Thai Journalists’ Association (TJA), International News Safety Institute (INSI), International Media Support (IMS), the Institute for Studies on the Free Flow of Information (ISAI) and Union Network International (UNI) in the Dec. 6-10 mission in Maguindanao.

They said the massacre “highlights the inability and unwillingness of the State to ensure the protection and safety of journalists who are merely seeking to perform their duties.”

“This massacre, coming at the very beginning of the 2010 election process, not only undermines that process but has dealt a cruel blow to democracy and free media in the Philippines,” the report pointed out.

The mission was organized at the request of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP), where local and international journalists went to General Santos City and Manila to meet and interview the families of victims, the local media community, lawyers and government authorities.

The report highlighted the need for trauma counseling for families of the victims who “are in urgent need of a professionally handled, carefully crafted trauma counseling program.”

The target groups must include widows, children, parents and immediate family members, the report said.

The fact-finding mission also took into account the findings of an independent fact-finding report prepared by the NUJP with the Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ), news organization Mindanews, and members of the Freedom Fund for Filipino Journalists (FFFJ).

The mission stressed the need to provide technical legal assistance to the families “drawing on local and international legal expertise to both prosecute these cases and to bring pressure on the government to expedite its own procedures.”

Moreover, the report said, “families of all victims are in need of immediate financial support as well as follow-up assistance to help generate a sustainable income and assistance in finding employment.”