ZAMBOANGA CITY: Government troops arrested seven people they accused of having links with a wanted Muslim rebel leader in the southern Philippines, the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) said yesterday.

The Hong Kong-based AHRC said the arrest was illegal and that the workers were neither working for Moro Islamic Liberation Front commander Ameril Kato nor involved with any rebel group.

The soldiers accused the men of constructing a house for Kato in North Cotabato’s Midsayap town.

But this was denied by the AHRC, which quoted a report submitted by the Task Force Detainees of the Philippines, and said those arrested were heads of families from nearby municipalities who were working in the construction industry to support their respective families.

The men were arrested on March 1 after troops, backed by helicopters, swooped down in the area.

The AHRC identified those arrested as Johnny Tugan, 51 years old; Salik Ameril, 27; Malik Guinaludin and four others, known only by their aliases, Espaik, Said, Dats and Patutin, at their worksite in the village of Lomopog.

The group, all of whom are Muslims, were working for a local engineer for the expansion of an elementary school, it said.

One of the victims, Tugan, recalled having been kicked and hit to his left chest and back.

The soldiers, too, had them questioned to force them into admitting that they were members of the MILF under Kato.