AFP creates courts to try alleged abuse of soldiers
Armed Forces chief Gen. Hermogenes Esperon Jr. announced yesterday the creation of special military courts to try soldiers accused of human rights violations.
Speaking to reporters during the two-day joint police and military First Semester Internal Security Operations Assessment at
The move was an affirmation of the military’s adherence to human rights and international humanitarian laws, he added.
Militant groups have been blaming the military for the spate of killings and forced disappearances involving their members.
But the AFP said it has nothing to do with the unexplained killings and abductions.
The AFP has stood firm in its claim that the missing activists were victims of a New People’s Army purge.
During the recently concluded summit on unexplained killings spearheaded by the Supreme Court, it was recommended that the AFP and the Philippine National Police should be more cognizant of the doctrine of command responsibility.
The police and military were also asked to train their men and officers on the principles of human rights, and make the program part of their training and orientation programs.
The UN and Western governments have criticized the government for allegedly failing to solve the wave of unexplained killings in the country.
Local human rights groups say more than 800 leftist activists have been murdered since Mrs. Arroyo took over the government in 2001.
The military says the number is exaggerated as some of the dead were communist guerrillas killed in armed clashes.
A UN envoy and an independent government commission have both identified military elements in many of the killings.
The New York-based pressure group Human Rights Watch had alleged that the Armed Forces were conducting a “dirty war” against leftist activists. – James Mananghaya, AFP
- Latest
- Trending
