AFP accuses Reds of war crimes in use of land mines

MANILA, Philippines—Communist rebels were the perpetrators in 141 cases of land mine use since 2010 in the course of the insurgency, according to the military.

A list of cases of land mine use which killed or maimed civilians and soldiers had been submitted to the Commission on Human Rights (CHR), the Armed Forces of the Philippines said in a statement.

Most of the cases were the work of Communist Party of the Philippines and its armed wing New People’s Army, the AFP said.

It said the number of land mine cases since 2010 had risen to 41 with 32 military and five civilian casualties.

At least 163 soldiers and 24 civilians had been wounded, the AFP said.

“Data collected by our office from field units provides a factual and verifiable basis for the report,” said Col. Alejandro Nacnac, chief of the AFP Human Rights Office.

It said rebels’ use, stockpiling, transporting and production of land mines was a “clear violation” of Republic Act 9851, which outlaws the use of methods in warfare prohibited by international laws.

This included the use of weapons, projectiles, materials and methods that cause “superfluous injury or unnecessary suffering or which are inherently indiscriminate when inflicted on soldiers and civilians,” the AFP said in its report to the CHR.

The AFP HRO also submitted the report to the Philippine Human Rights Committee, International Committee of the Red Cross delegation in the Philippines, AO 35 Secretariat and the Office of the United Nations International Organizations of the Department of Foreign Affairs.

It will also be forwarded to the UN Resident Coordinator in the Philippines and the Senior Human Rights Adviser of the Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights to the Philippines, the AFP said.

TSB