MANILA, Philippines—The United Nations on Wednesday deplored the massacre of at least 57 people, including journalists, in Maguindanao province and called for the perpetrators to be brought to justice.

In a statement issued by his spokesperson at the UN headquarters in New York and posted on the UN website, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon condemned the “heinous crime.”

“The secretary general extends heartfelt condolences to the families of the victims and hopes that no effort will be spared to bring justice and to hold the perpetrators accountable,” Ban said.

With the deaths of at least 12 journalists in Monday’s massacre, the Philippines has earned the dubious distinction as the world’s most dangerous place for journalists, according to an international media watchdog.

Most dangerous place

The Brussels-based International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) said the Philippines had effectively supplanted Iraq as the most dangerous place for journalists.

“At least 74 journalists have been killed during its eight-year tenure, yet the (Arroyo administration) has not acted to end the culture of impunity. At last count, only four convictions had been secured,” the IFJ said in a statement.

Before the massacre, the New York-based monitor Committee to Protect Journalists ranked the Philippines as the fourth deadliest country for journalists in terms of reporters’ deaths for 2009. In recent years, the Philippines got as far as the second most dangerous place behind Iraq.

However, Monday’s killings saw the Philippines leapfrog Somalia, Iraq and Pakistan into the top spot.

Also in New York, Human Rights Watch expressed “deep concern” on President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s ties to the political family allegedly behind the murders.

“Far too many people have been gunned down in the Philippines while President Arroyo has sat on her hands,” Elaine Pearson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement.

NBI must question Ampatuans

Pearson said members of the Ampatuan family should be “questioned” in an independent investigation, preferably conducted by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) after police and militiamen supposedly took part in the carnage.

“Ampatuan family members should be questioned by the National Bureau of Investigation, not having chats with senior presidential advisors,” Pearson said, making reference to presidential adviser Jesus Dureza’s meeting with Governor Ampatuan the other day in Maguindanao.

Pearson said that extrajudicial killings would continue in the Philippines until “they are competently, transparently and impartially investigated, and perpetrators, including members of security forces, are fully prosecuted.”

US Ambassador Kristie A. Kenney said “such barbaric acts violate the most fundamental principles of human rights and democracy.”

Kenney said “a thorough, rapid and transparent investigation must be conducted, and those responsible must be brought to swift justice.”

British Ambassador Stephen Lillie also condemned the killings and called on the police authorities to immediately arrest the perpetrators.

“Effective action will be crucial in maintaining confidence in the Philippines’ commitment to protect human rights,” Lillie added.

Clear commitment

IFJ general secretary Aidan White said the Arroyo administration “must make a clear and unequivocal commitment to an immediate, independent and effective inquiry into this atrocity.”

He said the IFJ was “determined to keep an international focus on this crisis. It is a traumatic and horrifying incident that means all journalists must now take even greater care.”

The IFJ is supporting plans by the International News Safety Institute to organize urgent safety training for local journalists, the group said.

“We extend our deepest sympathy and condolences to the families and colleagues of all those killed in Maguindanao,” said White.

The IFJ also pledged its full support to the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP), which is sending a mission to Maguindano to investigate the circumstances around the killings, to provide immediate support to the families of the victims, and to assess the security failings and safety needs for the region.

“The IFJ has made available its International Safety Fund to provide humanitarian support,” it said.

A group of Catholic bishops and Muslim religious leaders in Mindanao said both the Islamic and Christian faiths condemn abductions and killings in whatever form.

“We grieve with the families of the victims, offer our prayers for the eternal repose of the innocent souls and call upon the authorities to squarely address this atrocity,” Davao Archbishop Fernando Capalla said in a statement on behalf of the Bishops Ulama Conference (BUC).

The bishop said the unprecedented brutality of the massacre mocked their “humble but painstaking efforts to build harmony and understanding in Mindanao.”

The BUC is an interfaith forum for Mindanao bishops and Muslim religious leaders aimed at promoting peace and development.

Crime against humanity

The National Ulama Conference of the Philippines (NUCP) said the brutal killings was a crime against humanity and against the law of Allah.

“The act indeed was not a show of strength and power but a manifestation of cowardice and the absence, if not an outright denial, of the rule of law,” the NUCP added.

In Davao City, women from various walks of life expressed their outrage over the gruesome death that befell at least 21 women who were among the more than 50 victims in the massacre.

The International Day to Eliminate Violence against Women was commemorated Wednesday, as an annual tribute to the Mirabal sisters who were brutally killed by Dominican Republic dictator General Trujillo on Nov. 25, 1960.

Women rights advocates on Wednesday marched in the streets of Davao to condemn the violent deaths of the women.

Scared, angered

Nancy, a store attendant in downtown Davao, said she was both scared and angered when she heard the news that some of the victims of the carnage, which is linked to the Ampatuan family, were even sexually abused before they were killed.

The Mindanao Commission on Women and Mothers for Peace also expressed its outrage over what it called “new low in bestiality perpetrated by men on civilians but most especially on women.”

Indignation march

Media practitioners in Quezon province displayed a rare moment of solidarity in an indignation march held Wednesday morning in Lucena City in protest of the brutal killings of their colleagues.

More than 50 journalists started the march at the patio of St. Ferdinand Cathedral, carrying tarpaulin streamers with the words: “Justice for victims of Maguindanao massacre! Stop killing journalists!”

The indignation march was part of the simultaneous protest activity being staged by NUJP chapters all over the country, Janet Buelo, NUJP-Quezon chair, said.

Quezon journalists also lit white candles with black ribbons at the monument of St. Ferdinand, the patron saint of the city.

Aside from the NUJP-Quezon, other media groups that participated in the indignation rally are the Quezon Tri-Media Group, United Media Organization, Camp Nakar Press Corps and Southern Luzon Command Press Corps.

Also on Wednesday, members of the League of Filipino Students marched on Malacañang in Manila to denounce the killings.

In Quezon City, the University of the Philippines administration said the massacre not only represented the state of things in the Maguindanao province, but also the state of the country as a whole.

Ma. Christian Guverra, president of the Students’ Christian Movement of the Philippines, said “the Arroyo administration has failed again and again not only in protecting the citizenry against lawless elements, but also in accounting for human rights violations.”

The National Citizens’ Movement for Free Elections urged the Commission on Elections to declare a gun ban and dismantle private armies immediately to prevent another massacre. Reports from Cynthia D. Balana, Alcuin Papa, Nikko Dizon, Jerry E. Esplanada and Kristine L. Alave in Manila; Delfin T. Mallari Jr., Inquirer Southern Luzon; and Jeffrey M. Tupas, Inquirer Mindanao