Rights cases vs AFP fail to prosper

MANILA, Philippines – No soldier has been accused of human rights violations this year, according to the Armed Forces of the Philippines Human Rights Office (AFPHRO).

The AFPHRO said 84 cases of alleged human rights abuses against military personnel were filed in the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) since July 2010 when the Aquino administration took over.

But the office said all 84 complaints did not have a leg to stand on based on its internal investigation.

It said that a board of inquiry (BOI) was created from the headquarters down to the battalion level to look into the cases brought before the CHR.

“The findings of the BOI revealed that all of the human rights violation cases tagging military personnel were only accusations and did not produce sufficient evidence against soldiers,” AFPHRO chief Colonel Domingo Tutaan said.

The AFPHRO said that its clean human rights slate from January to April showed that its advocacy to educate and train soldiers to uphold human rights and international humanitarian law on warfare was working.

Tutaan said the AFPHRO was very active in teaching soldiers in garrisons and in the field about human rights, international humanitarian law and pertinent laws such as the Anti-Torture Act of 2009 (Republic Act No. 7438) and the rights of arrested or detained persons as well as the duties of arresting, detaining and investigating officers. Dona Z. Pazzibugan