Pattern of conduct as evidence in writ of amparo cases - G.R. No. 186050

G.R. No. 186050

"x x x.

The ruling of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in Velasquez Rodriguez v. Honduras[7] is worth noting. In that case, the tribunal found that once a pattern or practice of enforced disappearances supported or tolerated by the government is established, a present case of disappearance may be linked to that practice and proven through circumstantial evidence or logical inference, viz:

124. The Commission's argument relies upon the proposition that the policy of disappearances, supported or tolerated by the Government, is designed to conceal and destroy evidence of disappearances. When the existence of such a policy or practice has been shown, the disappearance of a particular individual may be proved through circumstantial or indirect evidence or by logical inference. Otherwise, it would be impossible to prove that an individual has been disappeared.

. . . . . . . . .

126. The Court finds no reason to consider the Commission's argument inadmissible. If it can be shown that there was an official practice of disappearances in Honduras, carried out by the Government or at least tolerated by it, and if the disappearance of Manfredo Velásquez can be linked to that practice, the Commission's allegations will have been proven to the Court's satisfaction, so long as the evidence presented on both points meets the standard of proof required in cases such as this. (Emphasis supplied.)

Following Velasquez Rodriguez, it may be established that enforced disappearances or extrajudicial killings naturally follow after a group’s political classification and/or vilification as communist. In the case at bar, the majority opinion already took judicial notice that once the military perceives an organization to be a communist front, the latter will automatically be considered as an enemy of the State and, therefore, a target for liquidation. Despite this finding, the majority refused to even examine how the present case fits this pattern or practice, and simply dismissed the allegations of petitioners in G.R. No. 186050 by saying that the existence of similarities between previous and present circumstances of abduction do not necessarily meet the standards under the Rule on the Writ of Amparo.

x x x."