Resolution on the Peace Negotiations
between
the Government of the Republic of the
the National Democratic Front of the
The JASIG, the CARHRIHL, and the
Joint Monitoring Committee
Whereas, the Government of the Republic of
the Philippines (GRP) and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines
(NDFP) have engaged in formal negotiations since 1992 to resolve the roots of
the armed conflict in the Philippines;
Whereas, in the Joint Declaration signed on
September 1, 1992 in The Hague, the parties to the armed conflict have agreed
that the "holding of peace negotiations must be in accordance with
mutually acceptable principles, including national sovereignty, democracy and
social justice;"
Whereas, the parties have also agreed in
The Hague Joint Declaration of 1992 that the substantive agenda of the formal
peace negotiations shall be on human rights and international humanitarian law,
socio-economic reforms, political and constitutional reforms and end of
hostilities and disposition of forces;
Whereas, The Hague Joint Declaration of
1992 has never been repudiated by either party as the framework of the peace
negotiations in 14 years of negotiations;
Whereas, the parties have forged in 1998 a
landmark Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International
Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL), the first comprehensive agreement in the
substantive agenda of the peace negotiations;
Whereas, the GRP-NDFP peace negotiations
have produced 15 other major and minor bilateral agreements;
Whereas, the parties under the CARHRIHL
have obligated themselves to adhere to and be bound by the principles and
standards embodied in international instruments on human rights and the
generally accepted principles and standards of international humanitarian law;
Whereas, in order to monitor its
implementation, the CARHRIHL provided for the formation of a Joint Monitoring
Committee which shall meet every three months and as often as deemed necessary
by the co-chairpersons due to an urgent issue or complaint;
Whereas, the NDFP postponed the scheduled
round of formal talks in August 2004 to allow or give time to the GRP to
fulfill its obligations as stated in the Oslo Joint Statements of 2004;
Whereas, these prejudicial issues stated include the failure
to indemnify human rights victims under the Marcos regime, the non-release of
political prisoners, the failure to take effective measures against the
“terrorist” listing of the Communist Party of the Philippines/New People’s Army
and NDFP chief political consultant Prof. Jose Ma. Sison as well as his
continuing political persecution; and the series of political killings of
farmers, workers, activists, partylist members, churchpeople,
lawyers and journalists;
Whereas, the GRP demand for a prolonged ceasefire as a
precondition to the resumption of formal talks violates the principle enshrined
in The Hague Joint Declaration that “no precondition shall be made to negate
the inherent character and purpose of the peace negotiations;”
Whereas, the GRP responded to the NDFP
postponement by suspending formal negotiations in December 2004;
Whereas, the JMC has not met after April
15, 2004 because of the insistence of the GRP that the JMC can meet only if
there are formal negotiations which is contrary to the provisions in the
CARHRIHL on the JMC;
Whereas, the GRP unilaterally suspended the
Joint Agreement on Safety and Immunity Guarantees (JASIG) on August 2005 in
violation of the provisions of the JASIG itself;
Whereas, in the wake of the unilateral
suspension by the GRP of JASIG, NDFP negotiators, consultants and staffers have
either been killed, abducted or charged with rebellion in violation of the
JASIG such as the killing of Sotero Llamas and the abductions of Leopoldo
Ancheta, Ariel Beloy, Rogelio Calubad, and Prudencio Calubid;
Whereas, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo
ordered on June 16, 2006 the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) to wipe out
the New People's Army (NPA) within two years and authorized the release of PhP
1 Billion to buy Huey helicopters, attack helicopters and other aircraft;
Whereas, this order by President Arroyo
have resulted in more civilian deaths and other violations of international
humanitarian law as in other conflict situations where aerial bombardment was
heavily used;
Whereas, despite the suspension of formal
talks, the Joint Secretariat of the JMC has continued to receive numerous
complaints of violations of the CARHRIHL from all parts of the
Whereas, there is clamor by the victims and
their families to take up, investigate and resolve these complaints, especially
in the context of the unabated cases of summary executions and abductions;
Whereas, despite the failure of the JMC to
meet, the NDFP has made repeated offers to the GRP to form an ad-hoc committee
to be composed of the independent observers to the JMC as well as
representatives of the Royal Norwegian Government and the International
Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to investigate specific cases of summary
executions and forced disappearances but the GRP has refused these only
belatedly, insisting that they are not within the mandate of the JMC;
WHEREFORE, we, delegates to the 3rd Congress of the
International Association of People's Lawyers (IAPL) resolve, as it is hereby resolved, to call and enjoin for the
- Immediate
resumption of formal talks in the peace negotiations within the framework
of The Hague Joint Declaration of 1992;
- Full
implementation of the CARHRIHL by convening the JMC, investigating the
complaints filed and to undertake the most immediate, adequate and
effective measures to address these complaints; and
- Respect
for the integrity of the negotiations by ensuring the immunity and safety
of all participants in the peace negotiations, including staffers and
consultants.
We further resolve
to reiterate and confirm previous similar resolutions issued by the IAPL Board
of Governors as well as the IAPL 2nd Congress in 2003 on the matter
of the violations of human rights and international humanitarian law committed
by State forces and agents under the Philippine government of President Arroyo,
on the peace negotiations, the CARHRIHL, on the continuing political
persecution of NDFP Chief Political Consultant Prof. Sison and on the similar
attacks on those involved in the peace negotiations.
Adopted this 16th day of October
2006,