The Armed Forces of the Philippines claims that it has not committed a
single human rights violation during the year, but human rights and
people’s organizations, as well as victims and their relatives in
Southern Tagalog say it is even getting worse.
By INA ALLECO R. SILVERIO
Bulatlat.com
Karapatan Southern Tagalog is determined to do its share in
exposing what it said are the lies of the Armed Forces of the
Philippines (AFP) when in comes to human rights. In a series of
activities this May, the group denounced the AFP as “an institution
swimming in the blood of victims of human rights violations in Southern
Tagalog and the rest of the Philippines.”
Last May 14, AFP officials were quoted in an article in the
Philippine Daily Inquirer saying that the AFP has a clean human rights
slate from January to April this year and all other human rights
violations cases filed at the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) from July
2010 are mere accusations.
In an article written by Inquirer reporter Dona Pazzibugan, the Armed
Forces of the Philippines Human Rights Office (AFPHRO) said, “No
soldier has been accused of human rights violations this year.”
In the same report, the AFPHRO said 84 cases of alleged human rights
abuses were filed against military personnel at the Commission on Human
Rights (CHR) since July 2010 when the Aquino administration took over.
All of these complaints, however, were considered by the AFPHRO as “not
having a leg to stand on based on its internal investigation.”
“The findings of the BOI revealed that all of the human rights
violation cases tagging military personnel were only accusations and did
not produce sufficient evidence against soldiers,” Pazzibugan quoted
AFPHRO chief Colonel Domingo Tutaan as saying.
The official said the AFP’s clean human rights slate from January to
April showed that its advocacy to educate and train soldiers to uphold
human rights and international humanitarian law on warfare was working.
“The AFPHRO was very active in teaching soldiers in garrisons and in
the field about human rights, international humanitarian law and
pertinent laws such as the Anti-Torture Act of 2009 (Republic Act No.
7438) and the rights of arrested or detained persons as well as the
duties of arresting, detaining and investigating officers,” he said.
Karapatan-ST secretary-general Glendhyl Malabanan immediately reacted
saying that for the AFP to make such a claim was ludicrous.
“The AFP should stop spreading its lies. Currently, there are an
estimated eight battalions of the army, police and Civilian Armed Forces
Geographical Unit (CAFGU) stationed in 22 towns and 50 barangays in
the southern part of Quezon,” she said. She pointed out that a such a
high concentration of military forces in rural communities automatically
translates to an escalation of human rights violations,” she said.
(Photo courtesy of ST Exposure / bulatlat.com)
Units deployed in the area include Philippine Army’s 85th, 76th,
74th, 59th Infantry Battalions, 1st Special Forces of the Philippine
Army, 201st Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, CAFGU and 416th Provincial
Police Mobile Group. Malabanan said while past administrations also
used militarization campaigns in their counterinsurgency programs, the
recent deployment in South Quezon is still alarming considering the
concentrated number of military relative to the areas where they have
been deployed.
Malabanan explained that Quezon, specifically South Quezon and Bondoc
Peninsula, can be considered as center of agricultural production where
products such as coconut, corn, and grains abound.....
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Source: Bulatlat.com
URL:
http://bulatlat.com/main/2012/05/24/southern-tagalog-human-rights-situation-worsening-%E2%80%93-karapatan-st/
