Maranaos still cry for justice six years after siege

MARAWI CITY – Six years after the deadly siege of Marawi City by pro-ISIS militants, various civil society organizations are still demanding justice, human rights protection and peace towards the full realization of safe and dignified return of all displaced residents back to their homes.

“Six years after the Marawi Siege, the protracted displacement still puts many lives in crisis and grave peril, depriving the IDPs (internally displaced people) of their fundamental human rights. Amid much publicized rehabilitation efforts in the city’s most affected areas, the promise to rebuild the lives of the victims and survivors of the siege remain heavily unfulfilled,” said a statement released Monday, May 22, by a dozen organizations.

They also cited a report by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) which claims that approximately 80,300 people (about 16,070 families) remain displaced since May 2017. Around 70% of the internally displaced population are in home-based settings while the rest are in transitory sites or temporary shelter communities.  

“We urge both the national and regional Bangsamoro governments to take into account equally relevant challenges confronting the IDPs, which include, among others: the land conflict and dispossession in Marawi, which affects especially four barangays within Ground Zero that will result to permanent displacement of thousands of residents occupying these lands prior to the siege; building of large-scale public infrastructures inside most affected area which are reportedly unfit to the needs of residents.”

 

“The continuing militarization of the entire province of Lanao with the intimidating presence and mounting of various military camps; human rights violations committed during the siege, illegal demolition, and the critical issue of delivering justice to the innocent victims of the siege, a number of whom after six years remain unidentified. For the longest time, the IDPs remained to be on the receiving end of systematic marginalization, dis-inclusion and discrimination,” the statement said.

 

The groups said rebuilding Marawi, the capital of Lanao del Sur province in the Bangsamoro autonomous region, must go beyond rebuilding the streets, setting up traffic lights, and building barangay halls destroyed during the siege. Rebuilding the city, they added, must begin with rebuilding the lives of the displaced population by pursuing truth, justice and accountability within a transitional justice framework to comprehensively address the roots of conflict and to ensure that another Marawi siege or a similar tragedy will never happen again.

 

Transitional justice is an approach to systematic or massive violations of human rights that both provides redress to victims and creates or enhances opportunities for the transformation of the political systems, conflicts, and other conditions that may have been at the root of the abuses.

 

They also said that a truth-seeking process on the roots of Marawi siege and documentation of the dead in the mass grave (Maqbara) must be initiated by conducting an independent legislative inquiry on what really happened in Marawi and how the budget for rehabilitation of the city has been spent since 2017.  

 

“Delaying justice for the victims of the siege is resulting in prolonged emotional and psychological trauma to the families and survivors. It goes without saying that this can provide the conditions for their further vulnerability,” the 12 organizations said.

 

“More importantly, the government must recognize the imperative to listen to the IDPs, Meranaw leaders, civil society, and the broad peace movement in Marawi in order to attain the full realization of a better future for Marawi and fulfil the promise of the Bangsamoro peace process. There is an urgent need to institutionalize relevant peace and social justice measures to end decades of conflict and structural poverty in the region, and most importantly address the historical injustices committed against the Bangsamoro and all other inhabitants of Mindanao,” they added.

 

The group said that while their calls are a refrain of still persisting demands, they also commend the Marawi Compensation Board in formulating the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) of Republic Act 11696 or the Marawi Siege Victims Compensation Act of 2022 - a law that will provide monetary compensation for the families of those who perished and lost their properties due to the Marawi siege in 2017. 

 

“We have long been clamoring for the legislation of a just Marawi compensation law and the formulation of its IRR is a significant victory for the victims and survivors of the siege as it is a critical step towards ensuring Marawi’s full recovery. This is a flickering light that will hopefully blaze brightly in our struggle for justice. The Marawi Siege Victims Compensation Act is limited, and the government has an obligation to address the pressing issues, challenges, and concerns faced by the IDPs by going beyond providing compensation for the victims of the siege,” the group said. 

 

The statement was released by the following organizations: Marawi Advocacy Accompaniment, Reclaiming Marawi Movement, Kalimudan sa Ranao Foundation, Inc.; Maranao Women Transformation for Inclusion and Democracy, Ompongan Youth Organization, Ranao Rescue Team, Moro Consensus Group, Reconciliatory Initiatives for Development Opportunities, Inc.; Thuma Ko Kapagingud Service Organization, Inc.; Gender and Development, Mindanao State University – Iligan Institute of Technology, Initiatives for Dialogue and Empowerment through Alternative Legal Services, Inc. and the Initiatives for International Dialogue.

 

The siege on May 23, 2017 began after members of the Abu Sayyaf group, Dawlah Islamiya, Maute group and foreign militants seized Marawi and battled security forces for five months. It was unknown how many civilians and hostages were killed in military air strikes and artillery fire since the fighting began, but the military insisted over 670 militants had perished in the battle, although it provided little or no proof at all for the huge number of enemy casualties. It said nearly 150 soldiers and 47 civilians were also slain in the war with nearly 2000 troops wounded in the battle. 

 

The militants occupied Marawi in an effort to put up an Islamic State province in the troubled region, home to some 4 million Muslims and 17 million Christians. The region of Mindanao was previously under the rule of sultans. (Mindanao Examiner)