Two months after the infamous Maguindanao massacre, at least 500 families are still unable to return to their homes due to the climate of fear that persists in Ampatuan town in Maguindanao, a five-day fact-finding mission report showed.

Kalinaw Mindanao, composed of groups of human rights advocates, lawyers, Moro and church-based organizations such as the Alliance Against Impunity in Mindanao, Pagbabago! Movement for Change, Karapatan, Kawagib Moro Human Rights Alliance, and Barug Katungod Mindanao, presented its report Tuesday on the fact-finding mission conducted from January 22 to 26.

Formally known as the National Interfaith Mission for Peace and Justice in Maguindanao, the mission aimed to document incidents of human right violations in the aftermath of the massacre on November 23, 2009 which claimed the lives of at least 57 civilians.

Based on the report, around 500 families living near the massacre site in Barangay Salman have been forced to live in deplorable conditions in evacuation centers due to the continued presence of the Ampatuan clan’s armed followers and government forces in the area.

It further noted that the evacuees live in cramped makeshift tents, rely on dole-outs, and receive no medical attention even though children are getting sick from the lack of food and sanitation.

“These evacuees are the hidden victims of human rights violations caused by the warlordism of the Ampatuans and heavy militarization in the province,” Bai Ali Indayla of Kalinaw Mindanao said in a statement.

The report also found out that evacuees, police, and military officials confirmed the presence of unidentified armed men roaming the area.

It noted that there are also threats of civilian houses being burned, after eight houses in Sitio Agapok, Bgy. Salman were torched last January 12.

Kalinaw Mindanao said Maguindanao police director Sr. Supt. Alex Lineses also told mission members that several civilians were arrested when martial law was imposed in the province in December, and that the civilians remain in detention.

However, it was not clear whether formal charges have been brought against them.

The mission also reported that majority of the evacuees are eyewitnesses to the massacre but are too afraid to come forward.

It also noted the presence of about 400 members the Philippine National Police at the Ampatuan municipal hall, only about one kilometer from the entrance to the massacre site from the national highway.

“The massacre could have been prevented had the authorities only performed their duty,” the report stated.

Kalinaw Mindanao convener and Karapatan secretary general Lovella de Castro said that the plight of the civilians, who are also victims of the Ampatuan massacre, should be addressed.

“They will not live normal and peaceful lives unless the Ampatuans are swiftly brought to justice, its private armies completely dismantled, and all police and military authorities made to answer for their complicity in the crime,” De Castro said.

De Castro also added that the Ampatuan massacre has brought the number of extrajudicial killings under the Arroyo government to 1,188, of which none of the perpetrators have been punished.