International laws on the conduct of war may have been violated during the botched police operation in Mamasapano, Maguindanao on January 25 that led to the death of 44 police commandos, 18 Moro fighters and at least four civilians.

This may have happened when PO2 Christopher Robert Lalan, one of the Special Action Force (SAF) members who survived that gunfight between the commandos and Moro fighters in the morning of January 26, allegedly shot at five members of the 105th Base Command of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) who were sleeping in a mosque in Brgy. Tukanalipao in Mamasapano.

The shooting happened at around 2 p.m., the next day after the shooting between both sides had already stopped, according to witnesses interviewed by Pinoy Weekly as part of the People’s Fact Finding Mission organized by Suara Bangsamoro, Kawagib Alliance for Moro Human Rights and Kalinaw Mindanao on February 9 to 11.

Witnesses said that at around the said time, they saw Lalan reach the mosque, which was made of light and wooden materials and located past the corn fields, banana trees and the wooden bridge that was the site of the bloody encounter.

“He was carrying a pistol, entered the mosque and began shooting (at the MILF fighters sleeping),” said Faisal Dagadas, who lived near the mosque and was cousin to Omar Dagadas, 24, who was one of the four MILF fighters killed in the shooting.

Dagadas also said he saw Lalan pick up an M-16 rifle that was inside the mosque, and also used it to shoot at the MILF members.

Aside from Omar Dagadas, the MILF fighters who were killed were Ali Ismael, 25; Mosif Hassim, 22, and a certain Raul, 21. One of the five survived the shooting and was able to run to the banana trees to seek help from neighbors, said Dagadas.

“In our view, that was clearly a massacre, because the victims were alseep, and they did not stand a chance,” said Jerome Succor Aba, Suara Bangsamoro spokesperson.

In media interviews, Lalan had denied that he shot at the sleeping MILF fighters, and denied that there was a mosque in the area.

IHL violation?

“Assuming the facts are accurate as culled from reports, and supported by testimonial evidence, I’d say there are violations of the International Humanitarian Law,” according to Edre Olalia, human rights lawyer and secretary-general of the National Union of People’s Lawyers (NUPL).

Olalia added that the attack on a place of religious worship such as mosques also constitute a violation of IHL.

Article III of the Geneva Conventions states that “(p)ersons taking no active part in the hostilities, including members of armed forces who have laid down their arms and those placed ‘ hors de combat ‘ by sickness, wounds, detention, or any other cause, shall in all circumstances be treated humanely, without any adverse distinction founded on race, colour, religion or faith, sex, birth or wealth, or any other similar criteria.”

In this case, the five MILF fighters can be considered hors de combat because they had no capacity to fight as they were asleep, explained Olalia.

Additional Protocol of the Geneva Conventions also protects cultural objects and places of worship like mosques.

Suara Bangsamoro said that aside from the responsibility of Lalan, his superiors, from the commander to the Commander-in-Chief himself, President Aquino, must be held responsible for the human rights violations and possible violations of International Humanitarian Law.

It is Aquino, as well as the US government, after all, who masterminded the entire operation that pushed the police commandos to commit the reported abuses and it is them who eventually led 44 of the commandos to their deaths, the group said.