Karapatan seeks military pullout
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY—The human rights group Karapatan has expressed hope that presumptive President-elect Rodrigo Duterte would act on the issue of peace and address the displacement of thousands of peasants and indigenous people due to the ongoing conflict between government troops and communist rebels in Mindanao.
Karapatan challenged Duterte to establish lasting peace in Mindanao starting with the abolition of Oplan Bayanihan and similar counterinsurgency measures initiated by the national government.
The solution to this problem that Duterte will inherit from the previous presidencies now rests in his hands, said Karapatan secretary general Cristina Palabay.
She said resolution of the decades-long conflict in Mindanao would depend on Duterte’s sincerity in living up to his words, especially his promise to resume peace talks, Palabay said by phone over the weekend.
She said Duterte could take the long road to genuine peace by addressing the roots of the conflict over the negotiating table.
The group said peasants and “lumad” had been calling for the immediate pullout of military troops from their communities where the presence of soldiers had resulted in 318 killings and the forcible evacuation of thousands during the Aquino administration.
Karapatan also urged Duterte to release 543 political prisoners jailed on supposed false criminal charges.
