CHR probes pregnant rebels’ alleged abduction

INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) on Thursday said it would investigate allegations that the military had abducted two pregnant rebels in possible violation of international humanitarian law. In a statement, CHR Chair Richard Palpal-latoc said they had already tasked the CHR Caraga to investigate reports that Aurily Havana and Jennifer Binungkasan, both fighters under the New Peoples’ Army, were taken by members of the 402nd Infantry Brigade on Nov. 3. Havana, 23, and Binungkasan, 19, have yet to surface since. While it maintained its stance against armed conflict, the CHR reminded the government that enforced disappearances were a serious human rights violation. “As we continue to seek a more durable solution in achieving peace, respect for human rights is a constant, nonnegotiable value that all sides—government and rebels alike—should always uphold,” it said. —KRIXIA SUBINGSUBING