Children not spared in military operations
The Children’s Rehabilitation Center (CRC) has documented one case of
a child’s death due to indiscriminate firing, 12 cases of frustrated
killings, eight cases of illegal arrest and detention, five cases of
torture, one case of abduction and numerous cases of attacks on schools.
By RONALYN V. OLEA and ANNE MARXZE D. UMIL
Bulatlat.com
MANILA – Precious (not her real name), 12, lost both her father and
brother in an instant. On February 27, at around 12 noon, suspected
elements of the 39th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army (IBPA)
fired at Rudy Dejos, 50 and his son Rudyric, 26 in Sta. Cruz, Davao del
Sur. The bodies of the two were found later bearing gunshot and stab
wounds, their nails and fingers crushed.
“They accused my father and brother of being members of the New
People’s Army. It is not true. My father was only a farmer and my
brother helped my father in the farm,” Precious said during an activity
organized by children’s rights advocates, Dec. 4 in Quezon City.
Precious said life has become even more difficult without her father
and brother. Her mother has to feed her and her three other siblings all
by herself.
Precious’s story is one of the many violations against the rights of
children under the Aquino administration’s Oplan Bayanihan. The
Children’s Rehabilitation Center (CRC) has documented one case of a
child’s death due to indiscriminate firing, 12 cases of frustrated
killings, eight cases of illegal arrest and detention, five cases of
torture, one case of abduction and numerous cases of attacks on schools.
“The newly installed government of President Benigno Simeon Aquino
III promises a righteous path but his first year proved to be a path no
different from the previous government,” Jacqueline Ruiz, CRC executive
director, said during the presentation of the group’s submission to the
United Nations Human Rights Council for the Universal Periodic Review of
the Philippine government, Dec. 3.
Seven-year-old Sunshine Jabinez
was shot dead by a drunken soldier of the the 71st Infantry Battalion
of the Armed Forces in Pantukan, Compostella Valley. The suspect,
identified as Private First Class Baltazar M. Ramo, remains in active
service.
Recruitment, use of minors by state agents
The CRC also documented cases where children were used by soldiers as shields or guides in counterinsurgency operations.
On August 24, 2010, Mark (not his real name) , 17, and his three
cousins were taken by some elements of the 67th Infantry Battalion,
Philippine Army in Quarry Sopa, sitio Butigan, bgy. San Jose, Boston,
Davao Oriental and were under military custody for several days. On
August 29, 2010, the soldiers interrogated the victims, forcing them to
admit that they are members of the New People’s Army (NPA). The children
were told that once they admit it, they would be release immediately.
They were forced to sign a document they did not understand before they
were turned over to a local council member of Boston.
Children call for an end to human rights violations(Photo by Anne Marxze D. Umil / Bulatlat.com)
In brgy. Pong-on, San Agustin, Surigao del Sur, three children were
falsely branded as NPA guerrillas. On June 26, Reynaldo, 16, his brother
Robert, 10 and cousin Jefferson, 10 years, went to their farm to gather
coconut for copra. Not long after, Reynaldo heard gunshots. He went to
the direction of the gunfire and saw his father handcuffed. Two soldiers
of the 29th IBPA held him tightly.
Reynaldo and the two other children
were brought by the soldiers to bgy. Janipaan. The soldiers subjected
Reynaldo and Jefferson to interrogation before they were turned over to
the Sto. Nino Police in Surigao del Sur. Pictures of the children were
taken together with two soldiers. After a few days, the military issued a
statement to the media stating that they have captured three NPA child
soldiers after an “intense fire” in bgy. Janipaan.....
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Source: Bulatlat.com
URL:
http://bulatlat.com/main/2011/12/10/children-not-spared-in-military-operations/
