Rights group: Philippine army falsely tags children as rebels

[News_Editor]

Rights group: Philippine army falsely tags children as rebels

2011-10-12 07:57:56 GMT+7 (ICT)

NEW YORK (BNO NEWS) -- A human rights group on Tuesday urged the Philippine government to end the military's harassment of children and their families in conflict areas, a statement said.

The New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) said the Philippine army has fabricated stories that children taken into custody are rebel "child warriors." It said six cases involving 12 children have been reported since President Benigno Aquino III took office in June 2010.

"The army is concocting stories of rebel child soldiers that are putting children at risk for propaganda purposes," said Elaine Pearson, deputy Asia director at Human Rights Watch. "The government should get the military to stop this despicable practice and investigate the officers involved."

Under Philippine law, the armed forces are required to immediately turn children taken into custody during military operations over to the social welfare agency, the police, or the local government. However, in the three cases HRW investigated, the army paraded the children in front of the media, publicly branding them as rebels.

In the past year, the United Nations Children's Fund, UNICEF, has documented the use of children in armed conflict by the New People's Army and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, as well as by government forces. HRW acknowledged that the Philippine armed forces are involved in military operations against various armed groups, but said that abuses by one party never justify abuses by the other.

The Philippine government did not immediately respond to the allegations.

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