Rome, Italy (posted by Becky D. de Asis -The Redline News Philippines) - Government chief 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 labor secretary, to
the list of alleged violations of the provisions of the Comprehensive Agreement
on the Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL)
human rights group Karapatan submitted prior to the opening of the 3rd round of
peace talks here in Rome, Italy.
As far as the GRP chief negotiator is concerned, there have been
no acts committed by the president that would constitute violation of CARHRIHL,
which supplemental guidelines were signed yesterday, January 21.
“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 in defending the president.
“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 that the government will look into,
and if warranted, investigate the cases submitted by the National Democratic
Front and allied rights organizations.
He said that 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 CARHRIHL, 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 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 government.
All previous documents signed in the August and October rounds of
talks were joint statements and declarations.
“In just 5 months, we have already scored a victory for the
Filipino people,” Bello declared.
The CARHRIHL 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 that 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 government time to implement a comprehensive peace agreement. ###
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