FINAL REPORT - Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism

Philippine Army who have been accused of perpetrating such human rights
abuses, as well as local military irregulars such as CAFGUs and “private”
armies of local political and economic elites with the backing of members of
the army hierarchy. On the other hand, militarization is related to two
concurrent processes: firstly, the powerful interests of mining, logging and
agribusiness enterprises, which acquire control over indigenous lands and
resources even against the wishes of the indigenous communities and
without their free and prior consent as the law establishes. Secondly,
militarization takes place in the framework of the counter-insurgency
tactics of the Philippine Army in the war against rebel groups, particularly
NPA, in which indigenous communities may be caught up as hapless
victims.
6. Report of the International Solidarity Mission Against US Armed
Intervention in the Philippines, conducted on 24-31 July 2002, which
concluded, among others, that:
a. US military forces abet massive human rights abuses and terror
committed by the AFP against the Filipino people. Human rights
violations continue unabated in Zamboanga, Basilan and Sulu
during Balikatan exercises.
b. US-supported military operations in several instances have
displaced and violated the rights of the Moro people and other
Filipinos from the local communities, including women and children,
and have abused the environment.
c. US military presence and increased militarization in Basilan,
Zamboanga and Sulu do not resolve economic backwardness,
grinding poverty, social dissent and mass unrest. Militarization
only exacerbates the people’s misery.
Liability of the President
As the Commander-in-Chief
of the Armed Force
The weight of testimonial and documentary evidence presented during the
proceedings point to the fact that the political killings and other forms of human rights
violations perpetrated by the military, the police and paramilitary forces and their
agents are carried out on a widespread scale and in a systematic manner.
In the Opinion and Judgment in Prosecutor v. Duco Tadic a.k.a. “Dule,” Case No.
IT-92-1-T, which was tried before the International Tribunal for the Prosecution of
Persons Responsible for Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law
Committed in the Territory of Former Yugoslavia Since 1991 and decided on 7 May
1997, widespreadness was defined as referring to the number of victims. That is, the
violations are directed against a multiplicity of victims. On the other hand, the
systematic nature of the acts committed was explained as an evident pattern or
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