Government to set HR probe standards

MANILA, Philippines – The government will set standards in probing human rights violations.

Paulyn Sicam, a member of the government panel negotiating with communist rebels, said they are in the process of developing measures in investigating violations of the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law.

These agreements were signed by government and the National Democratic Front in 1998.

In a workshop at the Astoria Plaza Hotel in Pasig City Tuesday, the committee sought counsel from representatives of government and non-government agencies on assessing six extra-legal cases committed from October to December 2008.

Sicam said the workshop aimed to come up with standards to guide the conduct of fact-finding missions related to violations of human rights to formulate policy and program recommendations.

“We plan to propose these standards to the NDF monitoring committee for them to conform to,” she said.

“The other side (NDF) has been proposing a joint mission, but as long as the talks have not yet resumed, the joint MCs cannot work together.”

Sicam said one of its functions of the Joint Monitoring Committee is to receive complaints of violations of human rights and initiate requests for the implementation of the agreement to the different agencies of government involved.

The JMC encourages the filing of cases in the proper courts and the Commission on Human Rights, she added.

These included the cases of Manuel Nardo (Pampanga), Nestor Arinque (Bohol), Expedito and Manuela Albarillo (Oriental Mindoro), Avenio Sungit (Palawan), Ricardo Uy (Sorsogon), and Jemias Tinambacan (Misamis Occidental).

Sicam said these cases were selected because they were “contested” as complaints were filed against the government and the NDF.

Challenges and issues were raised during the workshop.

Workshop participants included representatives from the Philippine National Police, Armed Forces, Oxfam, Archdiocese of Legazpi, Department of Interior and Local Government, Department of Justice, and Office of the Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process.   – Jose Rodel Clapano, (The Philippine Star)