International Coalition For Human Rights in the Philippines
Statement
August 12
On August 5, 2024 the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) held a press conference at Camp Aguinaldo Headquarters in Quezon City, “reaffirming” their “steadfast commitment” to human rights, and called their adherence to the promotion of International Humanitarian Law “unfailing.”
Such a statement from the AFP is a total farce and mockery. These remarks come at a time when human rights groups in the Philippines and the international community have widely exposed the Philippine government for massive human rights and international humanitarian law violations.
In May this year, the International People’s Tribunal established that the government of the United States of America (USA) backed the Marcos and Duterte regimes in carrying out their counterinsurgency campaign against the Filipino people. In the ongoing armed conflict in the Philippines, there are reports that the AFP willfully engaged in a litany of egregious violations of human rights and international humanitarian law against civilians & hors de combat. These abhorrent war crimes included the killing of civilians, intentional attacks on civilians and civilian communities, indiscriminate bombardment causing excessive injury and environmental damage, forced displacement, blocking humanitarian aid, acts of terror against civilians, extrajudicial killings, torture, desecration of the dead, abductions, and unlawful detentions among others.
This July 2024, Karapatan Human Rights Alliance released a report substantiating further the AFP’s total lack of seriousness in regards to human rights. In their January-June report, Karapatan claimed that “rank denialism and hypocrisy marked the first six months of 2024 under the Marcos Regime.” Since Marcos took office in July 2022, Karapatan has documented 105 victims of extrajudicial killings, 63,379 victims of indiscriminate firing, 44,065 victims of bombings, 7,780 victims of use of schools, medical, religious and other public places for Military purposes, and over 3.4 million victims of threats, intimidation and harassment.
Among the millions of victims, ICHRP remembers the lives and genuine service to communities in the Philippines of those tortured, harassed and killed by state forces.
We recognize the group of children recently abducted and interrogated by the 74th Infantry Battalion (IB) of the AFP after the targeting of their parents in Northern Samar. We remember the life of political prisoner Ernesto Jude Rimando, a labor organizer who served workers and advocated for land reform for peasants, who recently died in prison following false charges and due to state neglect of his health condition. We remember 69-year old farmer Ramon Enseniales, who was reportedly abducted, tortured and killed by members of the 15th IB and the Philippine National Police-Special Action Force (PNP-SAF).
The AFP cannot hide the truth of their crimes behind a sanitized press conference. Neither can the billions of dollars of military aid coming from the US and its allies deceive the international community to think the AFP and PNP uphold basic human rights agreements. As democratic space in the Philippines continues to shrink, and as human rights organizations like Karapatan and its workers face increasing attacks, ICHRP calls on the international community to continue to expose and oppose the war crimes committed against the Filipino people and to stop all forms of military support to the Marcos Jr. regime.
