The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has sent an updated list of alleged violations of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) by various communist groups to the Commission on Human Rights (CHR), a ranking military general said Tuesday, Oct. 19.
Brig. Gen. Joel Alejandro Nacnac, director of AFP's Center for Law of Armed Conflict (CLOAC), said the list contained 166 new IHL violations that were allegedly committed by different communist groups. The list was forwarded to Commissioner Karen Gomez-Dumpit, the Officer-in-Charge of CHR.
Nacnac said the additional violations include 16 incidents of recruitment and use of child combatants, 10 incidents of destruction of civilian-owned properties, 113 incidents of employment of anti-personnel mines (APM), 20 incidents of willful killings, and seven other IHL violations.
The 166 new incidents added to the initial list of 1,506 IHL violations previously monitored and reported by the AFP from 2010 to 2020, thus, increasing the total to 1,672 incidents, Nacnac added.
"These numbers are expected to rise as AFP units continue to monitor and submit reports on the IHL violations of the CTGs ," he said.
The AFP has sought partnership with the CHR in probing the Communist Party of the Philippines, New People's Army, and National Democratic Front of the Philippines (CPP-NPA-NDFP) for its reported violations of IHL.