JUSTICE Secretary Leila M. de Lima on Sunday qualified
“military and law enforcement operations” in areas inhabited by the indigenous lumad
as being guided by human rights, even as she urged the New People’s Army and
tribal paramilitaries to halt armed action in those areas.
“There is no doubt that both the New People’s Army (NPA) and
their allied organizations, on the one hand, and some elements of the State’s
security forces, on the other, have played a role in a situation where the lumad
are caught in the middle of an armed rebellion and the consequent
counter-insurgency operations,” Ms. de Lima said in a statement.
She said, nevertheless, that “military and law enforcement operations are conducted with the utmost concern and attention to international humanitarian laws and human rights that govern the conduct of combatant forces in an armed conflict.”
She said, nevertheless, that “military and law enforcement operations are conducted with the utmost concern and attention to international humanitarian laws and human rights that govern the conduct of combatant forces in an armed conflict.”
The Palace last week described allegations of military occupation as “baseless
and unfounded,” with President Benigno S. C. Aquino III describing military
operations as “serving the people.”
But the Justice secretary said “the government therefore sees as a positive intervention the calls for a comprehensive process and peaceful resolution to the conflict already put forward by non-partisan sectors.”
She said the NPA and paramilitary forces should both cease from further acts of violence.
But the Justice secretary said “the government therefore sees as a positive intervention the calls for a comprehensive process and peaceful resolution to the conflict already put forward by non-partisan sectors.”
She said the NPA and paramilitary forces should both cease from further acts of violence.
Ms. de Lima described the “finger-pointing” between the military and the
“anti-administration forces” as unnecessarily causing the polarization of the
situation.
She cited reports that lumad tribes were being pitted against one
another to choose sides in the conflict between the military and the NPA.
“It is important that we cut through the din and obfuscation in order to
undertake objective investigations,” she said. “Ideological agendas should be
set aside so the facts can surface from all the political noise.”
The Department of Justice convened on Sept. 24 a special investigating team to probe reported incidents of harassment and massacres, as well as the evacuation of fleeing lumad from their villages in northern and easternMindanao . The probe came on the heels of a directive from
Executive Secretary Paquito N. Ochoa, Jr.
The Department of Justice convened on Sept. 24 a special investigating team to probe reported incidents of harassment and massacres, as well as the evacuation of fleeing lumad from their villages in northern and eastern
http://www.bworldonline.com/content.php?section=Nation&title=de-lima-defends-state-operations-in-ilumadi-areas&id=115998
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