AFP trolls’ continuing attacks on Karapatan

IN RECENT weeks, the Inquirer ran two letters (“Karapatan grandstanding with false, malicious charges,” Opinion, 9/14/16; “Karapatan still living in heartless fantasy world,” Opinion, 9/19/16) parroting the usual lines of the Armed Forces of the Philippines against Karapatan and our analysis on the role of the AFP and the US government in the creation and operation of the terrorist Abu Sayyaf group.

We have no doubt that the persons behind those letters are AFP minions who routinely attack people’s organizations that expose, online and through other forms of media, covert operations and misdeeds of the the US government and the mercenary AFP. We respond, not to dignify their existence, but to expose the continuing efforts of such entities to undermine efforts geared toward the realization of people’s and human rights in the Philippines.

It is this kind of military line that makes Karapatan human rights workers targets of threats, harassment and “neutralization.” Karapatan workers have been harassed, threatened, implicated and charged in ridiculous criminal cases, and even killed (e.g., William Bugatti of the Cordillera Human Rights Alliance) in the course of advancing people’s and human rights in the Philippines. Many other members and leaders of progressive organizations of peasants, workers, indigenous peoples, women and youth also face these kinds of vilification and other worse forms of rights violations.

It is the same line that has been persistently used against human rights and peace advocates, in violation of the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law signed by both the Philippine government and the National Democratic Front, to frustrate their efforts to resume the peace talks between them. These threats continue mainly because of the counterinsurgency programs that target people’s organizations and civilian communities.

We in Karapatan have long been supporting victims of US- and military-sponsored terrorism in the Philippines and in other parts of the world. Despite the threats, Karapatan will continue to monitor rights violations especially those perpetrated in the guise of counterinsurgency, expose the accountability of state security forces, and extend assistance to victims who seek our help.

—CRISTINA PALABAY, secretary general, Karapatan