Madhatta Haipe Extradited to U.S. for 1995 Hostage Taking Involving U.S. and Philippine Citizens

WASHINGTON—The Justice Department today announced that Madhatta Haipe, a citizen of the Philippines, has been extradited from the Philippines to face trial in the District of Columbia for various crimes relating to the hostage taking of U.S. and Philippine citizens in 1995.

Haipe was arrested Aug. 27 upon his arrival in the United States and is expected to make his initial appearance this afternoon in federal court in the District of Columbia to face a seven-count indictment filed on November 8, 2000.

The extradition, which was announced by David Kris, Assistant Attorney General for National Security; Channing Phillips, Acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, and Charlene B. Thornton, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Honolulu Field Office, culminates a long term investigation.

The indictment alleges that defendant Madhatta Haipe, also known as Commander Haipe, led a group of armed individuals on Dec. 27, 1995 in the kidnapping of 16 individuals, including four U.S. citizens, in the rugged area around Trankini Falls, Mindanao Island, in the Philippines.

Haipe, who was a Professor of Islamic Studies at Mindanao State University, and his well-armed group of unidentified co-conspirators allegedly made threats to kill all the hostages if any of them attempted to escape. It is alleged that the group had numerous weapons, including automatic weapons.

The hostages, which included children, were threatened with weapons, forced to march through the jungle, and robbed of their valuables. The hostages were taken by force. Some were struck with rifle butts and all had rope tied around their hands or neck. Several hostages were released to facilitate the payment of the ransom. Those released were threatened that the other hostages would be killed if there was any military action taken against the hostage takers in an effort to free the hostages.

Between Dec. 27 and Dec. 31, 1995, the hostages were released as the kidnappers allegedly collected ransoms of one million pesos (about US $38,000 in 1995) and 500,000 pesos (about US $19,000 in 1995).

“With this extradition, we hope to finally bring justice for the U.S. and Philippine victims who were held hostage and repeatedly threatened with death during this crime,” said David Kris, Assistant Attorney General for National Security. “I commend the FBI, the Justice Department prosecutors and the authorities in the Philippines who never stopped pursuing this matter on behalf of the victims.”

Channing Phillips, Acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia, said, “We will continue to use the full extent of our terrorism laws to prosecute those who take Americans hostage overseas. The pursuit of justice on behalf of hostage-taking victims remains one of our top priorities.”

“The FBI Honolulu Division has investigated this matter in close coordination with the Philippine authorities for approximately 15 years,” said Charlene Thornton, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI in Honolulu. “Through this international cooperation, we finally anticipate bringing to justice those who harm our U.S. citizens abroad despite the time and distance.”

Presented to the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. by a federal grand jury in November 2000, the seven-count indictment charges Haipe with hostage taking, using firearms during a crime of violence and conspiracy, for which maximum prison sentences range between five years and life imprisonment.

The Department of Justice and the FBI, working with their partners in the Philippines have vigorously pursued this case for years. The investigation was conducted by FBI Honolulu Field Office, with substantial assistance from the Philippines Department of Justice, the Philippine National Police, the National Bureau of Investigation, and the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs.

The prosecution is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Gregg Maisel and Anthony Asuncion of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, as well as Trial Attorney T. J. Reardon, III, of the Counterterrorism Section of the Justice Department’s National Security Division.

The public is reminded that an indictment is an accusation and a defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.

NOTE The following text is a quote:

http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2010/July/10-nsd-864.html

Department of Justice
Office of Public Affairs
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Founding Member of Abu Sayyaf Group Pleads Guilty to 1995 Hostage Taking Involving U.S. and Philippine Citizens

WASHINGTON – The Justice Department announced that Madhatta Haipe, a citizen of the Philippines and founding member of Al-Harakat Al-Islamiyyah, also known as the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG), pleaded guilty today in federal court in the District of Columbia to four counts of hostage taking in connection with the 1995 abduction of 16 people, including four U.S. citizens, in the Philippines. The guilty plea was announced by David Kris, Assistant Attorney General for National Security; Ronald C. Machen Jr., U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia; and Charlene B. Thornton, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Honolulu Field Office.

According to the factual proffer in support of the guilty plea, to which Haipe agreed in court, at the time of the hostage taking, Haipe was serving as the General Secretary of the ASG, or second-in-command of the organization, under the Amir. The Amir of the ASG had directed that members of the group engage in kidnappings for ransom in order to raise funds for the group and to raise the public’s awareness of the group’s purpose. The ASG was subsequently designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization by the U.S. Secretary of State, and remains so designated today.

As admitted by Haipe as part of his guilty plea, on Dec. 27, 1995, several armed members of the ASG kidnapped 16 individuals, including four U.S. citizens, one U.S. permanent resident alien, and 11 Philippine citizens, in the rugged area around Trankini Falls, near Lake Sebu, in southern Mindanao, in the Philippines. The hostages, including six children, were forced to march up a mountainside. Some of the adult hostages had rope tied around their hands or neck.

Haipe informed the hostages that they were being kidnapped for ransom, and he individually questioned some of the hostages to determine the amount of ransom to be demanded. Later that same day, Haipe decided to release four of the 16 hostages to allow them to collect a ransom totaling at least one million Filipino pesos (equivalent to about $38,000 U.S. dollars, at the time). Haipe threatened that if the released hostages told anyone about the kidnapping, then hostages would be killed.

After releasing the four hostages, Haipe and his group forced the remaining hostages to continue marching up the mountainside to evade capture by the Philippine authorities. Four days later, on December 31, 1995, Haipe and his group released the remaining hostages after a ransom was paid.

“For roughly 15 years, FBI agents, Justice Department prosecutors and authorities in the Philippines relentlessly pursued this matter on behalf of the victims, who were held hostage and threatened with death by this Abu Sayyaf leader. With today’s guilty plea, Mr. Haipe is finally being held accountable for his actions,” said David Kris, Assistant Attorney General for National Security.

“Today’s guilty plea sends a clear message — we will never tire in our pursuit of justice for those who seek to harm American citizens, whether at home or abroad,” said Ronald C. Machen Jr., United States Attorney for the District of Columbia. “Today’s guilty plea demonstrates that there will be serious consequences for those who commit such crimes.”

“The FBI Honolulu Division has investigated this matter in close coordination with the Philippine authorities for approximately 15 years,” said Charlene Thornton, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI in Honolulu. “Through this international cooperation, despite the time and distance, we have managed to bring to justice a defendant who had sought to harm our U.S. citizens abroad.”

Haipe, who is now 48 years old, was indicted for this crime by a federal grand jury in Washington, D.C. in November 2000. In August 2009, he was extradited from the Philippines to face the charges against him. He is now scheduled to be sentenced before Judge Richard Roberts on Dec. 14, 2010. He faces up to life in prison on each of the four counts to which he pleaded guilty. As part of the plea agreement, the government may advocate for a sentence of up to 25 years in prison.

The Department of Justice and the FBI, working with their partners in the Philippines, have vigorously pursued this case for years. The investigation was conducted by FBI Honolulu Field Office, with substantial assistance from the Philippines Department of Justice, the Philippine National Police, the National Bureau of Investigation and the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs. The Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs and, in particular, Robert Courtney, the U.S. Justice Department’s Attaché to the Philippines, also provided substantial assistance in this case.

Here's a bit of trivia on a later hostage taking event :

* Hamsiraji Sali :
an Abu Sayyaf leader based in Basilan, Philippines. Iraqi financial support for the extremist group, which now styles itself as the Al-Harakat-ul Al-Islamiya (Islamic Movement), started coming in when the Abu Sayyaf was able to demonstrate that it was capable of putting the Philippines in a bad light, said Hamsiraji Sali, a bandit leader based in Basilan in a 2003 phone interview. "We showed this by kidnapping more than 70 people in Tumahubong and Sinangkapan," Sali said in a phone interview. The bandit leader was referring to the mass abduction that took place on March 20, 2000 in Sumisip and Tuburan towns in which 78 schoolteachers and students, including the late Claretian missionary Fr Rhoel Gallardo, were taken hostage. Sali said the Abu Sayyaf received about 1m pesos each year from its allies and supporters in Iraq. "So we would have something to spend on chemicals for bomb-making and for the movement of our people in Mindanao," he said.

Sali said the group's firearms were being provided by some contacts in the Middle East. He said the firearms were transported to Mindanao by way of Cambodia and Vietnam. "Then somebody receives them in Malaysia and sends them to the Philippines," Sali said.

Sali, who was a key leader in the Abu Sayyaf hostage-taking in Sipadan, Malaysia and the Dos Palmas resort in Palawan, said corrupt soldiers and military officials also supplied the group with firearms. "But I won't identify them because they might not sell to us again," he said. During the interview, Sali said he had relocated to Central Mindanao, but not to hide. He said he was supervising the Abu Sayyaf's renewed attacks on the government. Sali has claimed that he and some 90 Abu Sayyaf terrorists were in Central Mindanao to carry out economic sabotage operations through bombings. "We won't stage kidnappings or beheadings in the meantime. We will sabotage the economy by destroying all electric posts, towers and lines," he said.

But the military has dismissed his claims, saying it was the Moro Islamic Liberation Front MILF that staged the [economic sabotage] attacks. "It's just a diversionary tactic by the MILF to escape blame," Lt-Col Michael Manquiquis, the Armed Forces spokesperson. The military maintains that the MILF carried out the series of bombings that toppled power transmission towers in Maguindanao this week [late Feb or early March 2003] in retaliation against the capture of its camp in North Cotabato two weeks ago. [in February 2003]

Maj Julieto Ando, spokesperson of the Army's 6th Infantry Division based in Maguindanao, said the military has deployed a number of intelligence operatives to track down Sali's hideout in Central Mindanao even as he disputed claims that Sali's arrival in the region was behind the recent series of explosions.
------- "PHILIPPINES: ABU SAYYAF LEADER SAYS IRAQIS OFFERING FINANCIAL SUPPORT," by Guzman and TJ Burgonio, carried by Philippine newspaper Philippine Daily Inquirer web site on March 2, 2003 via BBC Monitoring International Reports

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