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In Focus: The Maguindanao Massacre – impunity (straffrihed) rears its ugly head
On November 23, 2009 a convoy with 57 people on the way to an election office in the Maguindanao province in the Southern Philippines, were attacked and killed by armed men.
The governor of the province, Andal Ampatuan, was pointed out as the prime suspect for the killings. Members of a rival political family member of Mr Ampatuan together with 30 journalists and media workers were in the convoy.
Mr Ampatuan has denied responsibi-lity for the attack. The Ampatuan clan has controlled Maguindanao for decades and its members have been loyal supporters of President Gloria Arroyo.
After the attack President Arroyo declared martial law in Maguindanao province which raised protests by human rights groups. Muslim rebels on the Mindanao island have been fighting for a separate Islamic state within the mainly-Catholic country for decades, a conflict which has claimed 120.000 lives.
In this weeks “In Focus blog” on the AsiaPortal, Lennart Niemelä, who holds an M.A. in Asian studies from Lund University, looks at what conditions on the political-economic scene of the Philippines made the massacre possible.
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In the In Focus section of the AsiaPortal we address an up-to-date topic and ask a Nordic expert in this area to write a short opinion in an attached blog. We warmly welcome researchers, students, experts and others interested in the topic to give their comments in the blog.
We would also like to form a network of people who would be interested in participating with opinions in future In Focus themes. Anyone interested can contact us on [email protected]
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