Lawyers’ group slams dropping of case vs soldiers in Daguil Capion case

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DAVAO CITY, Philippines—The Davao City-based Union of People’s Lawyer in Mindanao has questioned the grounds cited by government prosecutors in deciding not to pursue charges against soldiers tagged in the killing of the wife and two children of anti-mining Blaan leader Daguil Capion.

Lawyer Emiliano Deleverio, speaking for UPLM, said they could not understand how government prosecutors missed the fact that Juvy Capion and her two sons, Pop, 13, and John Mark, 8, were killed by soldiers from the 27th Infantry Battalion in a remote area of Kiblawan, Davao del Sur, on Oct. 18, 2012, even if they were unarmed.

In dismissing the complaint against the soldiers, the Department of Justice said it found no probable cause to charge at least 15 soldiers with murder in the deaths of the Capion family members.

But Deliverio said the UPLM, which has been providing legal services to the Capions, listed “undisputed facts,” which he said would be enough to indict the soldiers involved.

He said these included their direct admission of being present in the area at the time of the shooting; and the admission of three other soldiers they had fired their guns toward the hut the victims were in.

Even the military’s line the deaths arose from a legitimate clash was also refutable, according to Deliverio.

“UPLM would likewise stress that a regular performance of duty could not have resulted in a very irregular situation of death and injury to innocent civilians and therefore the ‘presumption of regularity’ does not apply in the case,” he said.

Deliverio said the soldiers also admitted they tampered with the scene of the crime by moving the victims’ bodies outside the hut.

“Respondents admitted that they moved the victims out of the hut—a very unusual thing to do,” he said.

Deliverio said witnesses also accused the soldiers of cleaning the hut’s interiors, adding they were trying to cover up a crime.

“Respondents failed to refute the witnesses’ allegation that they cleaned the house,” he said.

“These facts put respondents directly in the crime scene and strongly indicate that they have caused the death and injury of the victims,” Deliverio added.

He said the UPLM has started preparing a petition for review against the dismissal of the charges.

“The prosecutor clearly looked for proof that would convict respondents for murder and assumed the function of a trial judge calibrating evidence which is proper only in a trial,” he said.

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