US embassy cable - 05MANILA2969

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 
------------------------------------- 
 
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 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
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