MANILA -- Government Chief Peace Negotiator Silvestre Bello III said President Rodrigo Duterte is determined to uphold human rights of political dissenters even as he continues to seek a negotiated political settlement with rebel forces.
This was the response of Bello, who is also the labor secretary, to the list of alleged violations of government forces to the provisions of the Comprehensive Agreement on the Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CarHR-IL) submitted by human rights group Karapatan Alliance for the Advancement of People's Rights prior to the opening of the third round of peace talks in Rome, Italy.
In a statement, Karapatan said government should immediately investigate the thousands of human rights violations complaints committed by government forces against civilians and human rights workers and defenders.
"There is no reason now, as before, for the GRP JMC to renege on its role to investigate at least 4,000 complaints filed against state security forces since 2004 which includes political killings and enforced disappearances from the Arroyo to the present Duterte administration, continuing illegal detention of political prisoners, numerous violations in erlation to military operations, drug-related killings, among other violations of human rights and international humanitarian law," Cristina Palabay, secretary general of Karapatan, said in a statement. Palabay was an independent observer on the third round of talks.
But as far as the chief negotiator is concerned, there have been no acts committed by the President that would constitute violation of CarHR-IL.
“The track record of President Duterte will speak for itself. He has always upheld the rights of political dissenters and respected their human rights,” Bello said.
“Some may find his unconventional approach in addressing peace and order issues in the country but he has always maintained high respect for political dissent,” Bello added.
Nevertheless, Bello assured the government will look into, and if warranted, investigate the cases submitted by the National Democratic Front and allied rights organizations.
He said the signing of the supplemental agreement put into motion the operationalization of the joint monitoring committee (JMC).
Bello however said the government also submitted pacts committed by rebel forces that violated some provisions of CarHR-IHL, among them the torching of buses and heavy equipment by New People’s Army (NPA) rebels.
All these allegations of violations from both sides would be addressed by the JMC which will be immediately constituted by both parties, the GRP panel said.
These also underscore the need to forge a bilateral ceasefire agreement to determine and provide mechanism to monitor and address violations.
“Hopefully, the JMC will expedite the forging of a bilateral ceasefire agreement that will address the alleged issues of government violations and provocative and prohibited acts of NPA rebels,” Bello explained.
The signing of the supplemental guidelines is the first agreement signed by both parties under the Duterte administration.
All previous documents signed in the August and October rounds of talks were joint statements and declarations.
“In just five months, we have already scored a victory for the Filipino people,” Bello declared.
The CarHR-IHL primarily encourages all victims of violations and abuses of human rights or their surviving families due to the armed conflict to come forward with their complaints and evidence.
He is confident at the pace the peace negotiations are going, they may be able to sign a final peace agreement within the year to allow the Duterte administration time to implement a comprehensive peace agreement. (PNA/VoxPop Philippines)
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