Lorenzana slams HRW for criticizing kill order vs NPA
“STOP [YOUR] hypocrisy,” Defense Secretary Delfin Lorezana told New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) organization on Saturday, February 17.
This was Lorenzana’s call to HRW after the latter accused Duterte of inciting “war crimes” for offering a reward for every communist insurgent killed.
Lorenzana, in a statement, denied that Duterte’s directive against communists’ armed wing, the New People’s Army (NPA), was meant to fuel war crimes.
The Defense chief sees nothing wrong with neutralizing rebels and terrorists in the country as it is
a “legitimate law enforcement function.”
He also emphasized that under the Philippine laws, the government has the privilege to offer rewards.
“We disagree with the assessment of Human Rights Watch that President Rodrigo Duterte’s reward offer of P20,000 for every NPA member killed `encourages war crimes,’” Lorenzana said.
“Furthermore, our defenders are under strict orders to adhere to the principles of human rights and international humanitaria law when they operate in the field. They know only too well that anyone of them who is found guilty of abuse will be sanctioned accordingly,” he added.
On February 9, Duterte told the indigenous communities that he is willing to pay P20,000 for every NPA guerilla they kill.
The HRW on Wednesday, February 14 said Duterte’s pronouncement only proved that government security forces “can do as they wish to defeat their enemies, including committing summary executions.”
“Duterte’s offer of a bounty for killing communist rebels encourages war crimes, such as shooting enemy fighters who have surrendered or are wounded, or who are civilians protected from the attack,” the HRW said.
Lorenzana slammed the HRW’s bias against the Philippine troops, noting that the government does not hear anything from the international human rights group when it comes to communist rebels’ killing spree.
He also claimed that the group was “silent” when CPP founder Jose Maria Sison threatened to kill one oldier in every region every day.
“The HRW has always been unreasonably critical of and biased against the AFP (Armed Forces of the Philippines ) and the PNP (Philippine National Police),” he said.
“It stays silent even when the NPA foes on a killing rampage while quick to accuse Philippine law enforcement agencies of trumped-up or unconfirmed violations,” he added.
Lorenzana called on the HRW to end its “hypocrisy” and instead support the Philippine government on its efforts to put an end to communist group’s atrocities.
He also maintained that the Duterte administration would continue fulfilling its mandate to ensure the country’s security, with an assurance that the rule of law is preserved.