News, November 2003, www.aljazeerah.info
Human Price of the Israeli Occupation of Palestine
Israeli daily aggression on the Palestinian people
Mission and meaning of Al-Jazeerah
Cities, localities, and tourist attractions
Zamboanga Buries Unclaimed Summary Execution Victims
Al Jacinto
Arab News
ZAMBOANGA CITY, 29 November 2003 — Dozens of victims of execution-style killings, unclaimed by relatives and left to decompose in mortuaries of this southern port city for the last two years, were finally laid to rest yesterday in a mass burial ground.
Most of the victims, many believed to be Muslims, were either shot in the head or stabbed several times in the body — their faces sometimes covered with plastic and hands tied behind their backs — by still unidentified killers.
No relatives or families had claimed the corpses and local government officials finally agreed to bury them because of mounting public outcry.
“We paid more than one hundred thousand pesos to the funeral house for everything, from the embalming and the wooden crates and other funeral services. They are finally laid to rest and may their soul rest in peace,” city Administrator Antonio Orendain told reporters.
One more bloodied body of man, killed in the village of Talisayan, turned up yesterday just as funeral workers readied the 49 corpses for burial. “I cannot believe this is happening,” city hall official Francisco Barreto said.
Hundreds of villagers who came to Mercedez to witness the burial had to cover their noses because of the stench of decomposing bodies .
Police said many of those killed were drug addicts and criminals and probably killed by their own gangs.
Some residents, who refused to be identified for fear of reprisals, said they suspected police, soldiers or vigilantes were responsible. They also said the victims could include suspected members of the Muslim extremist Abu Sayyaf group, which is active in the area.
Some of the bodies turned up with signs written on a piece of cardboard and hanging by their necks, saying, they were killed because of their illegal activities, suggesting that vigilantes were involved. Other signs warned other criminals that they will suffer the same fate if they don’t reform.
After brief funeral rites, workers lowered 27 crates containing the remains into a 10-meter (30-foot) deep grave on government property in a remote village on the outskirts of the city.
More than a year ago, 17 other victims of unsolved killings had to be buried with their coffins standing up because of lack of space in a public cemetery, said Ramon Fortuna, a city health officer.
 |
| Earth, a planet hungry for peace |
 |
| The Israeli apartheid (security) wall around Palestinian population centers (Ran Cohen, pmc, 5/24/03). |
 |
| The Israeli apartheid (security) wall around Palestinian population centers in the West Bank, like a Python (Alquds, 1/25/03. |
 |