By Priam Nepomuceno | Philippine News Agency
MANILA – The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has submitted another list to the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) containing an updated report of the International Humanitarian Law (IHL) violations committed by the communist terrorist group (CTG).
In a statement Tuesday (Oct. 19), the AFP said Brig. Gen. Joel Alejandro Nacnac, chief of its Center for Law of Armed Conflict (CLOAC), submitted this updated list to CHR officer-in-charge, Commissioner Karen Gomez-Dumpit last Oct. 14.
The updated list consisted of 166 IHL violations committed by the New People’s Army (NPA).
“The list is composed of 16 incidents of recruitment and use of child combatants, 10 incidents of destruction of civilian-owned properties, 113 incidents of employment of anti-personnel mines (APM), 20 incidents of willful killings, and seven other IHL violations. This list adds to the 1,506 IHL violations previously monitored and reported from 2010 to 2020, increasing the total to 1,672 incidents,” it added.
Nacnac submitted on Oct. 6 the report to the Philippine National Police’s Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG) and the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict’s Legal Cooperation Cluster (NTF ELCAC LCC) on Oct. 5.
“These numbers are expected to rise as AFP units continue to monitor and submit reports on the IHL violations of the CTGs. These CTG atrocities should not be left with impunity,” Nacnac said.
The AFP said the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA), in pursuing their armed struggle to overthrow the government, continues to commit terroristic acts, disregard human rights and violate IHL.
The AFP has recorded from 2010 to 2020 a total of 1,506 IHL violations of the CTGs which includes 544 children used as child combatants, 532 incidents of destruction of civilian-owned properties, 141 incidents involving the usage of anti-personnel mines (APMs), and 289 incidents of intentional killings of innocent civilians, assassinations of former CTG members, premeditated killing of military personnel who were performing their duty and other incidents of killings perpetrated by the CPP-NPA.
The CPP-NPA is listed as a terrorist organization by the European Union, the United Kingdom, the United States, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, and the Philippines. (PNA) – bny
