Army condemns NPA’s continued ruthless killings and violation of CARHRIHL

Camp Peralta, Jamindan, Capiz – The Philippine Army here in Western Visayas condemned the continued ruthless killings of the New People’s Army (NPA) and its violation of the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL).

Last December 30, 2013, Demetrio Capilastique known as “Hugo” was shot to death in Brgy Linaywan, Badiangan, Iloilo by members of the SPARU unit of the NPA. Alias “Hugo” is a ranking leader of the NPA’s rival group Revolutionary Proletarian Army-Alex Boncayao Brigade (RPA-ABB) here in Panay Island.

Brigadier General Arnold Quiapo, 301st Brigade Commander said “This is an inhumane act of the NPA, against the law hence, cannot be justified. Any issue against Capilastique should be brought to the proper court and let him answer to our proper judicial system. While the CNN took responsibility for the killing, they should bring those culprits from within their ranks to the courts of law.”

A day following the killing, the CPP-NPA-NDFP (CNN) in an issued statement, took responsibility for the assassination of alias “Hugo”. Hugo was charged by the CPP-NPA of several crimes against the movement and the so called ‘NPA’s court system’, one of which is the crime of mutiny against the CPP-NPA in the Southern Front of Panay in 1994.

Meantime, it can be recalled that last January 25, 2013, a ranking leader of the RPA-ABB Joven Tababa was shot to death by the NPA in Tigbauan, Iloilo. The CNN also took responsibility and tried to justify the killing.

Tababa was with his 7-year old daughter when he was shot and succumbed to gunshots and eventually died on the spot; however his daughter managed to flee.

A day after the incident January 26, 2013 around 8 pm, a certain Gina Genilan Gestalao alias Neneng, 35 years old, wife of a former RPA-ABB member and a resident of Bulho, San Joaquin, Iloilo, was shot to death by the NPA hitting her right upper breast and left portion of her eye.

The NPA’s attack on non-combatants is clearly a violation of the CARHRIHL which the CPP/NPA/NDFP is a signatory.

UN questioned CPP/NPA/NDF’s “people’s courts”

In Page 14 of the Philip Alston report of the UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions from 2004-2010, it stated that “the CPP/NPA/NDF’s system of “people’s courts” is either deeply flawed or simply a sham. The question whether the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL) can be interpreted to affirm the CPP/NPA/NDF’s contention that it has a right to constitute courts and conduct trials is a matter of controversy.”

While no judicial process is involved in the NPA’s way of imposing punishment for both ordinary and counter revolutionary crimes, Alston stated that “failure to respect due process norms constitutes a violation of IHL for the CPP/NPA/NDF and may constitute a war crime for participating cadres.”

Major General Aurelio Baladad, Commander of the Army’s 3rd Infantry Division said “These unlawful killings and blatant violation of human rights and the International Humanitarian Law of the NPA must be stopped. The democratic government and the Filipino people want a justice system that is not served through killings.” 
To start the year right, Baladad called for peace towards the CNN and urged the NPA to instead lay down their arms, abandon the armed struggle and join the mainstream society in bringing peace and development especially in the countryside.

“Our Bayanihan efforts to bring peace and development in the countryside will continue as we start the year. We call on the public to be vigilant and let us work together in addressing the challenges of peace,” Baladad added.

Source Article

AFP, PNP to undergo CARHRIHL seminar

The Government of the Philippines-Monitoring Committee (GPH-MC) will conduct basic orientation seminars for the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) on the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL), a peace agenda agreement signed by both the government and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP).

These seminars will be held in Tarlac City on March 1 and Lucena City on March 14, for the AFP Northern Luzon Command and the Southern Luzon Command, respectively, and for the PNP provincial and regional officers in both areas. In October last year, seminars were also held for the PNP and AFP Eastern Mindanao Command and Central Command.

“We hope to further promote adherence to international human rights from our security forces and welcome this opportunity of working with the unified commands. We anticipate that the initiative coupled with improved cooperation with other stakeholders will over time result in better conditions on the ground,” said Undersecretary Jose Luis Martin Gascon, Chair of the GPH-MC.

CARHRIHL orientation seminars aim to enhance the security forces’ training in human rights and international humanitarian law principles as part of the education and information campaign of the GPH-MC. They also encourage the security forces to document and report CARHRIHL violations.

Participation in CARHRIHL orientations are “all part of the AFP’s continuing efforts towards enhancing the culture for human rights, international humanitarian law, and the rule of Law among our officers and soldiers, most especially those assigned on the ground,” according to Col. Domingo J. Tutaan Jr. (GSC) PA, Chief of the AFP Human Rights Office. He also emphasized that besides compliance, soldiers, as protectors of the people and state, need to understand and internalize the peace agreement’s provisions and principles.

The orientation seminar in Lucena City also commemorates the 14th year anniversary of the signing of CARHRIHL by the GPH and the NDFP on March 16,1998.

The first of four substantive peace agenda items, which will constitute the final peace settlement, CARHRIHL seeks to uphold principles of human rights and international humanitarian law in the context of armed conflict.

The other substantive agenda items still to be tackled by the GPH and NDFP Negotiating Parties are (a) socio-economic reforms; (b) political and constitutional reforms; and (c) end of hostilities and disposition of forces.

The CARHRIHL establishes a Joint Monitoring Committee (JMC), composed of representatives of both the government and the NDFP, as an interim mechanism for adherence to the CARHRIHL. The GPH-MC is the government section of the JMC. The two sections separately uphold, protect and promote the principles of the CARHRIHL until a final peace agreement is reached.

Peace talks between the government and the NDFP have stalled for over a year owing to the communist group’s continued insistence on the release of detainees it claims to be covered under the Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG).

However the verification mechanism for the JASIG failed in mid-2011 when the NDFP was unable to produce photographs and identification of its JASIG-covered personalities. The NDFP claimed that these photographs were stored in diskettes rather than in hard copy per JASIG stipulation.  The diskettes could not be decrypted.

-------------------------------------------------

A March 1, 2012 press release from the Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process

Official Gazette of the Republic of the Philippines

Article Link