30 September 2007

004 ~ Learning from History

A soon-to-be anointed member of the PNP's international peacekeeping contingent recently released one of his jailed charges on account of lack of evidence.

The suspect, taken in for an acts-of-lasciviousness complaint, was surprisingly saddened at his liberty for the basic reason called sustenance. Unlike at home, he never went hungry at the station. A few days later, the man would commit a petty crime to earn his "meal ticket" back in the can.

The police officer, at relating the anecdote to friends, was then told of a similar incident that transpired in East Timor. A jailbreak had occurred in what was yet a turbulent Indonesian province.

From the Becora Prison's Civilian Detention Center, where a Filipino UN CivPol was assigned, 14 inmates bolted to their unwarranted freedom. Half the number did not consummate the dash and were returned behind bars, once extricated from the perimeter barbed wire. The other half were later accounted for, after being tracked down by the local and multinational patrols or, as predicted, upon surrender. The free will, coming from either the detainees themselves or their close kin, was for one mouth less to feed at the spare family kitchen.

Lessons drawn from the above-narrated cases probably explain better-quality reform procedures. It might have been rethinking corrections by touching the nucleus of the human spirit, even if it was done through the stomach.

Minds are now curious if high-profile malefactors would do the same, given an opportunity to walk out of the squalid cell, toward where there is a whole lot more in store for them.*

These are mostly the ones being tried for war crimes, once charged with endless power and now charged heavily for mass destruction and mass murder. They are former heads of state, army generals, political bigwigs, and ministers of the disarrayed nations. They have interests in country, people, economy, luxury, and gourmet food ---all of which make strong rationalizations on evading justice.

Just the same, however momentarily, they can find good within themselves and soften up the lines on their malfeasance-hardened faces, whenever accorded civility.

Several Filipino UN Blue Berets who worked in the Kosovo mission's prisoner escort unit have experienced their wards' reciprocation of kindness. Although escort elements are restricted from communicating with prisoners while being transited to court hearings, they still receive gestures of sincere appreciation for the gentleness in handling handcuffed affairs.

It goes to show that abuse of authority or maltreatment of even society's least wanted does not ease up a tense situation. It will not reverse the damage, big or small, that the lawless had been responsible for inflicting. Most definitely, it will not bring back to life the corpses that they might have maimed, took the life out of, and buried without reverence.


===
* Later reports show that Liberian ex-president Charles Taylor enjoys a satellite dish and DVD player in his cell while facing charges of crimes against humanity. He is widely believed to have terrorized the civilian population with his countless acts of murder, physical violence, rape and sexual slavery, forced labor, looting, and the employment of child-soldiers under 15 years old.

- Newsweek, 15 October 2007, page 5;
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/6707551.stm.

15 September 2007

003 ~ Living the History

There were vicarious thrills, listening to stories and adventures of the men and women who'd been there, doing global-policing what.

Then there were actual chills from gracing the mission area, to observe how a human being works in a PNP uniform capped by the UN Blue Beret.

So many insights to gain in trying to write serious and strightforward history, and so many twists and turns to get entangled in ---all of which are too exciting to be avoided.

For instance, when the website was launched as one of the book's information conduits, a new avenue of exchange was born. Every week since, messages from across the planet have reached the virtual postal center. Most of these are of collaborator concern: book-purchase inquiries or congratulatory phrases or motions (digital attachments and all) to improve the draft. Are these senders blessed!

Others carry verses that strike the chord of sentimentality and melancholy, and there are yet others (albeit a thankful few) that simply get in the nerves. Bless the senders of such, too.

Surprisingly, there flood semi- and extremely desperate requests from even the far corners of the globe (the online ones, that is), for assistance in locating any one of the Filipino police officers listed in the PNP Contingent Roll. These come from persons who identify themselves as distant relatives, high school buddies, resigned mistah from the military academy, former colleagues in the pre-Web UN missions, ex-girlfriends.

(Important: No ex-boyfriends have yet come forward to seek help in search-and-rescue operations of this nature.)

This "pumps" fresh irony for people who attempt to write serious, straightforward history: having a bit of clean fun in dealing with the lighter side of the past.

Then the burden comes when the history-writing passion presses in, and everything that can be afforded closure should be given one.

So whenever possible, the missives are forwarded to those concerned, directly or through known comrades, juniors, or superiors in the active service. The requesting parties are not given any contact information on the subject police officer, but are notified that tracking has been undertaken.

It would be nice to know if a two-way correspondence did push through, and whether or not a slice of history has had its closure or moved on to a new beginning.