From Rappler (Sep 5):
PH and Fiji in Golan: One order, different outcomes
Last week, Filipino and Fijian peacekeepers were given the same order to surrender their weapons to Syrian rebels. Who made the right choice?
Peacekeeping
forces from two countries were caught in a similar situation, and were given
the same order by their overall commander. Each took a different path – one
defied it and the other followed – leading to different outcomes.
Fiji’s Army Chief Brigadier General Mosese Tikoitoga
revealed in various interviews that the detained 45 Fijian peacekeepers, in
fact, surrendered to the Syrian rebels following the orders of United Nations
Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) Commander Lieutenant General Iqbal Singha,
based on various reports in Fiji.
"At no stage
in an operation would I expect any of my officers not to follow the decisions
of the first commander....The Filipinos chose to do so and the Philippines
government has supported them for having chosen that path," Tikoitoga said
in new interview defending
the surrender. The situation of the Fijians was being compared to the Filipinos
who were able to escape.
“We cannot
criticize them for it, nor can we follow the decision they have made. We live
by our own ethos of following command," Tikoitoga added.
Philippine
military chief General Gregorio Catapang Jr said there was no guarantee that
the Syrian rebels – among them members of the Al-Qaeda affiliate in Syria, the
Al-Nusra Front – will not also take them hostage after they surrender their
firearms.
While Filipinos
celebrate the daring escape of their soldiers in the middle of the night when
the rebels were asleep, Singha is telling Indian media that the move was an
"act of cowardice."
"The higher
UN echelon as well as the Indian Army agrees with me that the decision was
correct. It is an act of cowardice to desert posts especially when a delicate
ceasefire was in place....They broke the chain of command and UN orders,"
Singha was quoted in various Indian news outlets.
Singha said the
Filipinos also endangered the lives of the 45 Fijian peacekeepers who were
taken hostage by the Syrian rebels.
"The
non-professional actions of the Filipino troops have endangered the lives of
the Fijian soldiers. They have defied orders at a time when we had negotiated a
ceasefire with the rebels to ensure that all troops in the conflict area could
exit," Singha added.
The Philippine
military has questioned Singha for using the Filipinos as "sacrificial pawns"
to save the Fijians. Catapang said Singha should have extracted the Filipinos
first, and the Philippine peacekeepers would later help rescue the Fijians.
Risks of
surrender
Caught in the
middle of the blame game is the UN, which has backed Singha and
denied there was an order to for the Filipinos to surrender their weapons. UN
Under Secretary for Peacekeeping Operations Herves Ladsous said the order was
“not to shoot.”
The Philippines
said Singha verbally issued the order to surrender the weapons and supposedly
refused to put his order in writing. The new interviews with Singha and
Tikoitoga back the narration of the Filipinos, however.
Surrendering weapons
to rebels is risky, as UN experience shows.
In 1993, 10 Belgian peacekeepers
who surrendered to the ethnic Hutu extremists in Rwanda were executed. They were
members of UNAMIR, the UN Assistance for Rwanda. The Hutu militia is behind
a genocide of about 800,000 people
of the minority Tutsi community.
The UN
peacekeepers' role in Rwanda
during the genocide was questioned as the world body was accused of allowing
the genocide by refusing to send in more troops to control the situation. Most
of the UNAMIR troops were pulled out after the execution of the peacekeepers.
Singha, however,
was confident of the talks with the Syrian rebels. A negotiated ceasefire would
supposedly ensure that all troops could exit the conflict area. But the
Filipinos claimed they monitored the rebels massing up after the 7-hour
firefight and believed they would be "massacred"
if they did not escape.
The crisis in
Golan that started at 10 am Thursday, August 28, enters Week 2. The UN
continues to demand for the unconditional release of the Fijian peacekeepers.
Tikoitoga said there’s been a “lull” in the negotiation for their release,
however.
The Al-Nusra
Front earlier issued 3 demands: its deletion from the the UN terrorist list,
compensation for 3 colleagues killed in firefights against peacekeepers, and
humanitarian assistance for a town it dominates.
It is not clear
if the 3 Syrian rebels were killed during the firefight with Filipinos. Syrian
government forces also provided fire support to prevent the rebels from closing
in the UN facility.
Peacekeeping
history
Fiji started deploying to Golan last year to replace
troops of Croatia and Japan, which already decided to pull out as the
internal conflict in Syria
continues to deteriorate. Peacekeepers in Golan are tasked to monitor the 1974
ceasefire between Israel and
Syria
While the Fijians
are new in Golan, they have a long experience in peacekeeping operations in the
"Middle East, notably with UNIFIL in Lebanon,
with UNAMI in Iraq, and with
the Multinational Force in Sinai," according to the Fiji
government.
The Philippines has
been deploying to Golan since 2009 and has occupied high-level positions in the
UNDOF Command.
Singha in fact
succeeded Filipino Natalio Ecarma III, now a defense undersecretary who was
present in the war room in Manila
that approved movements of the Filipino troops in Golan.
Before the standoff,
the Philippines
decided to pull out the peacekeepers when their tour of duty ends in October.
http://www.rappler.com/news/68246-philippines-fiji-golan-peacekeepers
