Military sued for rights violations before UN

From the Sun Star-Davao (Mar 17): Military sued for rights violations before UN

A GROUP championing indigenous peoples (IPs) rights has brought a case of human rights violations before the United Nations (UN) against the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), accusing the military of harassment, providing arms to IPs, and forming paramilitary groups.

Pasaka or the Confederation of Indigenous People in Southern Mindanao Secretary General Kerlan Fanagel, in an e-mailed statement to Sun.Star Davao, said the case was submitted to the Asia Indigenous People's Pact (AIPP), a UN panel, during a gathering at Siem Reap in Cambodia recently.

Fanagel cited the alleged abuses committed by the Eastern Mindanao Command (EastMinCom) in Caraga and Davao Regions. He said that most of the cases involved the setting up of military encampments near schools and barangay establishments as well as the red-tagging or accusing IPs as members of the communist New People's Army (NPA).

The IP leader said the EastMinCom provided arms to some IPs and recruited them as members of paramilitary units.

He said the military is using the Maggahat, based in Agusan del Sur, and the Alamara, which is based in Davao del Norte, in operations against the NPA as well as their fellow tribesmen.

The Alamara is said to have threatened teachers and students of a community-based school in Talaingod, Davao del Norte. The Maggahat unit, meanwhile, had similar cases as they also declared was on their fellow tribesmen who have been supporting communist rebels.

"We will not confine ourselves to resolving these cases with our national government knowing the rotten justice system we have in our country, it is obvious we can’t get justice in the Philippines," Fanagel said.

http://www.sunstar.com.ph/davao/local-news/2015/03/18/military-sued-rights-violations-un-398071