AFP vows to promote human rights

MANILA, Philippines - The military reaffirms today its commitment to promote human rights in a ceremony that coincides with the commemoration of the International Humanitarian Law (IHL) month.

Soldiers will vow to respect the IHL during the flag ceremony in Camp Aguinaldo General Headquarters in Quezon City.

The military’s pledge to adhere to the IHL comes amid lingering allegations that soldiers have resorted to killings and torture to silence the government’s critics.

While the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has repeatedly claimed that it does not tolerate human rights violations, complaints about the alleged misdeeds of soldiers persist.

AFP chief Gen. Jessie Dellosa was expected to lead the pledge to honor the IHL, which will be replicated in all major military camps.

Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin, Commission on Human Rights (CHR) chairperson Loretta Rosales, International Committee of the Red Cross head of delegation Pascal Mauchle, and Philippine Coalition on the International Criminal Court national coordinator Rebecca Lozada were expected to be present during the activity.

Earlier, the AFP Human Rights Office reported that it had received as much as 35 complaints of abuses involving soldiers from January to April. These complaints include sexual harassment, rape and shooting of civilians.

The military, however, maintains that these complaints cannot be considered “human rights violations” yet as these have yet to be proven in court.

The AFP even claimed that there was no incident of human rights violation by soldiers for the first four months of the year.

The military claimed that all of the referred human rights violation cases tagging military personnel “were only accusations and did not produce sufficient evidence.”

The CHR has received 84 human rights-related complaints involving soldiers from July 2010 to March 2012. As of June, 15 were dismissed while the rest are still being investigated.