Kulot, Kian and Carl killings call for ‘international level’ probe —Amnesty

The recent killing of 14-year-old Reynaldo de Guzman and two other teenagers in separate incidents calls for an "international level investigation," human rights group Amnesty International said Thursday.

"This case and those of other young people makes it even more urgent that an international level investigation takes place," said James Gomez, AI's director for Southeast Asia and the Pacific, in a statement.

"The world can no longer afford to look away, stay silent, or offer muted expressions of condemnation," he added. "The brutality must stop. The victims and their families deserve justice."

Gomez was referring to the killing of De Guzman alias Kulot, whose body was found in Gapan, Nueva Ecija, on Tuesday with 30 stab wounds on his body, as well as that of Kian Loyd delos Santos, 17, and Carl Angelo Arnaiz, 19, both allegedly in the hands of police who were trying to arrest them.

"Extrajudicial executions of people are never justified, and when it comes to killing children this is especially horrific, brutally cutting short budding lives and condemning their families to a lifetime of inconsolable sadness," Gomez said.

AI condemned the killing of De Guzman, who was last seen in Cainta City in Rizal with Arnaiz on the wee hours of August 18. Arnaiz's body was found in a morgue in Caloocan City 10 days later. The group said De Guzman's killing is "the latest atrocity" in the series of extrajudicial killings in the Philippines.

"This is not an isolated case or a mistake, but the latest atrocity in a wave of unlawful killings that has claimed the lives of more than 50 children and thousands of other Filipinos," Gomez said.

Police claimed Arnaiz robbed a taxi driver and fired at the responding policemen, but forensics report showed that he was tortured and shot at close range while either kneeling or lying down.

Delos Santos, meanwhile, was shot after he allegedly tried to engage policemen in a shootout during an anti-drug operation in Caloocan City on August 16. Police claimed he was a drug runner.

Witnesses and CCTV footage, however, point to Delos Santos being shot at close range. —Rie Takumi/KBK, GMA News