Probe into soldiers’ killing in Davao starts

From  the Sun Star-Davao (Nov 14): Probe into soldiers’ killing in Davao starts

THE Philippine government has started investigation on complaints against communist rebels who allegedly killed four unarmed soldiers in Davao City last week, a senior official said Tuesday. The Government of the Philippines-Monitoring Committee (GPH-MC) tasked to monitor the human rights situation under the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL) between the government and the National Democratic Front (NDF), the political wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (NPA), is the one conducting the probe, said lawyer Jaime Arroyo, head of GPH-MC Secretariat. Arroyo confirmed that the MC has received and reviewed the complaints filed by the relatives of the victims.... He said that in accordance with the CARHRIHL, the GPH-MC will furnish its counterpart, the NDF-MC, with a copy of the complaints.
Arroyo clarified that the MC is “not a court or an investigative body but it provides an important venue for victims of violations of human rights and International Humanitarian Law (IHL) that take place in the context of the conflict between the security forces of the GPH and the NPA to file their complaints, especially when there is a scarcity of available information.”  The MC receives the complaints and refers them to government agencies that are mandated to investigate and prosecute the crimes. To expedite the filing of appropriate cases and monitoring their progress, the GPH-MC organized a Case Monitoring Working Group (CMWG) composed of representatives from the Philippine National Police (PNP), the Department of Justice (DOJ), and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).  The CMWG was organized to process complaints of alleged human rights violations associated with the armed conflict between the government and the CPP/NPA/NDF.
"The purpose of this working group is to update cases with new information from the ground as it becomes available,” Arroyo said....

http://www.sunstar.com.ph/breaking-news/2012/11/14/probe-soldiers-killing-davao-starts-253251