03 Mar CHR Confirms Child Soldier Recruitment Of NPA @ Misamis Oriental
Mga higala! The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) of Region 10 recently confirmed that the New People’s Army (NPA) has recruited child soldiers in Misamis Oriental!
According to a post by AFP Radio DWDD, the said Communist Terrorist Group (CTG) is guilty of Grave Child Rights Violation (GCRV) due to the said recruitment.
Below are some of the confirmed victims (November 2020):
- minor from the municipality of Claveria
- a 16-year-old girl from Lagonglong who voluntarily surrendered to 58IB due to failed promises, starvation, and loneliness
- 8 other minors (part of a group of 12) who decided to surrender due to hardship and hunger (these kids were recruited sometime in 2016)
LtCol Ricky Canatoy of the 58th Infantry Battalion said that “the minor victims decided to return to the mainstream and surrendered to the government in November 2020 as their lives became unbearable being part of the rebel group where their lives and safety were not assured.”
CHR-Region 10:
“The legal basis for grave child rights violations lies in relevant international laws such as international humanitarian law, international human rights law, and international criminal law.” The recruitment or use of children is the first identified GCRV. The recruitment and use of children in armed conflict have been incorporated into our domestic laws and, likewise, we consider these acts to be grave child rights violations. In this case, the alleged crime committed by the armed group, the NPA, was the recruitment and use of children. Recruitment refers to the compulsory, forced, or voluntary conscription or enlistment of children into the governmental armed force or forced or voluntary membership into the armed group. “
“The nine victims herein were considered children involved in armed conflict (CIAC) as they were recruited when they were still below 18 years old and therefore considered children. As they were recruited and used by the armed group in the context of armed conflict, the nine children are victims of grave child rights violations (GCRVs). Regardless of their recruitment, whether voluntary or forced, they were recruited and used to take part in the hostilities by the NPA, an armed group that is clearly a violation of the law, both domestic and international. “
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