SEVEN ABU SAYYAF MEMBERS SENTENCED TO DEATH

UNCLAS MANILA 002969

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

STATE FOR EAP/PMBS,INR/EAP, S/CT
NSC FOR GREEN

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PTER PINS PREL KCRM RP
SUBJECT: SEVEN ABU SAYYAF MEMBERS SENTENCED TO DEATH

REF: 04 MANILA 3942


1. (U) This message is Sensitive But Unclassified. Please
handle accordingly.


2. (SBU) Seven members of the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG),a
US-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) since
1997, received death sentences on June 22 from the Basilan
District Court for their role in the 2001 kidnapping and
subsequent murder of 12 hostages. Six of the convicted were
present in the court and one was sentenced in absentia. The
convicted will now face death by lethal injection and the
court also ordered them to pay the families of the victims
200,000 pesos (US$ 3,600). State Prosecutor Ricardo Cabaron
told the media the GRP "applied the full force of the law,"
and that the "agony of the victims families was finally
relieved." (Note. In August 2004, a lower court sentenced
17 ASG members to death for their roles in the June 2001
Lamitan Hospital siege and the May 2001 kidnapping of several
Filipino citizens and three AMCITs from the Dos Palmas resort
in Palawan (reftel). Death sentences are automatically
reviewed by the Supreme Court, requiring a majority
concurrence of its 15 justices. End Note.)

The ASG: Brutal Is Putting It Lightly
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3. (SBU) According to press accounts, the convicted ASG
members are: Ibrahim Bowak, Muddas Sabinul, Abdulla Uwa,
Daud Indaling, Janital Wahid, Jimmy Teng, and Etang Awal.
Awal remains at-large and was sentenced in absentia. The
bandits raided a village near Lamitan Town in August 2001,
seizing about 40 people including women and children. Before
returning to the jungle they beheaded nine captives and shot
another. One of the women captives was reportedly raped.
The ASG gunmen also raided a farm near Lantawan Municipality,
torching 10 houses and a church, and beheading two of 15
captives, according to press reports of the trial
proceedings. The ASG was also implicated in the kidnapping
of 21 mostly Asian and European tourists from the Malaysian
island resort of Sipadan in April 2000.

Comment: A Win For The Mixed Judicial Record
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4. (SBU) The convicted were found guilty of particularly
brutal acts, reinforcing in the public mind the ASG's
reputation for indiscriminate terrorism. While Philippine
justice is at times ineffective and slow, these convictions
represent a significant and commendable step forward in
efforts to bring the ASG to justice. End Comment.
MUSSOMELI