Bu-lat-lat (boo-lat-lat) verb: to search, probe, investigate, inquire; to unearth facts Volume IV, Number 18 June 6 - 12, 2004 Quezon City, Philippines |
Human
Rights Watch NPA
Treats POWs Well ¾
AFP Judge A
ranking official of the Armed Forces’ Judge Advocate General’ s Office (Jago)
is singing a tune different from that of the AFP spokesperson with regards
allegations of human rights violations by the New People’ s Army (NPA). “Mas
liberal pa nga ang mga NPA, inaalagaan nila ang kanilang mga bihag” (The NPAs
are more liberal, they take care of their hostages), he said. By
Dabet Castañeda A
ranking official of the Armed Forces’ Judge Advocate General’ s Office (Jago)
is singing a tune different from that of the AFP spokesperson with regards
allegations of human rights violations by the New People’ s Army (NPA). The
official, Lt. Col. Julius Magno, a trial judge advocate, insinuated to Bulatlat.com
in an interview over the weekend that the NPA takes care of its prisoners of war
(POWs) well. “Mas liberal pa nga ang mga NPA, inaalagaan nila ang kanilang
mga bihag”(The NPAs are more liberal, they take care of their hostages),
he said. Magno
issued the statement in an interview during the inauguration of the offices of
the Joint Monitoring Committee (JMC) of the government and the National
Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) June 4 in Quezon City. The JMC is
charged with monitoring the implementation of a human rights agreement signed by
both parties. Last
week, Lt. Col. Daniel Lucero, AFP spokesperson, said that the NPA has become the
leading “human rights violator” adding that atrocities attributed to
military troops have declined over the years. From a high of 263 in 2001, the
number of cases filed against them went down to 78 in 2002 and 55 last year, he
said. This year, only 17 complaints have been received, a newspaper report
quoted him as saying.
Human
rights training Lucero
traced the decline in the number of human rights abuses filed against the AFP to
the latter’s extensive education and training on human rights and
international humanitarian law. He also said the armed forces has recently
established a Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law desk which is
connected with the Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff for Civil Military
Operations (J7). The
Amnesty International (AI) report cited by Lucero in fingering the NPA as a
leading human rights violator appears to show otherwise, however. The
2003 report by AI, a London-based human rights watch, found the AFP guilty of
human rights abuses. AI said in particular the AFP has reportedly killed 200
people and about 400,000 have been displaced after the AFP launched offensives
against the Moro rebels.
The Arroyo government, it further said, failed to revive peace
negotiations with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and following clashes
between government troops and MILF forces.
“At
least 38 civilians were killed in two bombings in Davao city, eastern Mindanao,
in March and April,” AI reported. “In subsequent police sweeps, at least 12
Muslim suspects were reportedly arrested without warrants in Davao and Cotabato
and held incommunicado for extended periods. There were fears that some were
tortured or ill-treated by the Philippine National Police (PNP) seeking
confessions and information.” Worse
than Estrada Marie
Hilao-Enriquez, independent observer of the JMC and secretary general of human
rights alliance Karapatan, said that the human rights record of the military
under the Arroyo government is far worse than that of ousted president Joseph
Estrada. Enriquez
specifically pointed out that in Arroyo’ s three-year term, there have been
more than 300 political prisoners nationwide while the number had gone down to
150 before Estrada was ousted in 2001. Thirteen
human rights workers were slain under Arroyo compared to Estrada’s watch where
there was no record of such incidence. The slaying of human rights workers, she
told Bulatlat.com, were perpetrated by military and police authorities. Karapatan
has documented from Jan. 21, 2001 to June 1, 2004, at least 199 cases of
killings affecting 289 individuals, 30 cases of forced disappearances affecting
38 individuals, 160 cases of forced evacuation affecting 15,096 families and
112,664 individuals.
In
total, Karapatan has documented 3,150 cases of human rights violations against
the military, police and its paramilitary forces affecting 171,369 victims in 73
communities nationwide.
Mechanism Meanwhile,
Magno assured Bulatlat.com that the AFP has put in place a mechanism to
ensure that every soldier receives education and training on human rights and
international humanitarian law.
He
said the human rights education and training are given regularly for six months. The
military lawyer however said the implementation of human rights principles
“boils down to the dedication of the troop commander.” Violations committed
by any unit of the armed forces are a result of the laxity and incompetence of
the commanding officer, he said. In such cases, the troop commander should be
relieved from his post, he added. Echoing
Magno’ s statement, Chief Supt. Wilfredo Dulay of the Directorate for
Investigation of the Philippine National Police (PNP) said that the police force
has also implemented the same human rights education and training program. Dulay,
however, said they have no means of monitoring violations by their forces. It is
the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) that monitor the human rights abuses by
policemen. Violators
still Reacting,
Enriquez said that the monitoring of the CHR does not reflect the real human
rights situation in the country.
In
fact, she said, victims and their families have gone tired of filing cases
against the military, police or other paramilitary forces because such cases are
either dismissed or whitewashed.
Magno welcomed the formation and operationalization of the JMC as this would assure that both parties to the ongoing civil war would be responsible and accountable to any abuses that could be filed against each side. Bulatlat.com We want to know what you think of this article.
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