Violations vs Children Continue under Aquino Administration
“We fear that at the end of Aquino’s term, the Arroyo administration’s bad human rights record would be approximated, if not surpassed by the AFP,”—Salinlahi Alliance for Children’s Concerns
By ANNE MARXZE D. UMIL
Bulatlat.com
MANILA – Asserting that the state is the primary violator of Filipino children’s rights, members of progressive women’s group Gabriela and Salinlahi Alliance for Children’s Concerns picketed the Department of National Defense (DND), April 5.
The groups said that the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) should be held accountable for the grave violations committed against children as a result of its counterinsurgency programs. They also criticized President Benigno S. Aquino III’s internal security plan called the Oplan Bayanihan as the framework for these attacks.
The protest action was held in time for United Nations Special Representative of the Secretary-General (UN SRSG) for Children and Armed Conflict Radhika Coomaraswamy’s meeting with the military and government officials.
Coomaraswamy’s visit in the country from April 3 to 7 is part of the monitoring and reporting mechanism of the UN Security Council on the commitment of countries listed in the Annex 2 of Paris Principles
.
“State violence against children must stop, the Aquino administration should scrap its counterinsurgency plan Oplan Bayanihan,” Gabriela said.
Violence against children continues under Aquino
Gert Ranjo-Libang, Gabriela deputy secretary general, said that Oplan Bayanihan has resulted to loss of children’s parents, forcible evacuation of children from their homes, illegal arrest, illegal recruitment of minors to paramilitary groups, torture, and rape..... MORE
Source: Bulatlat.com
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