UN attributes killing of 14 children to AFP, PNP

The United Nations has verified the killing of 14 children and maiming of 24 victims in the country and attributed these to five groups including the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP), a UN report showed.

According to the Secretary-General’s report on children and armed conflict presented last Oct. 5 to the Security Council, at least 11 of the 38 cases were attributed to the AFP and at least two to both the AFP and PNP in a joint operation.

It also said the New People’s Army (NPA) is responsible for at least six cases, the Bangsamoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF) for at least four, and the “paramilitary group” Alamara for one.

The report covered the period between January and December 2016.

Chief Superintendent Dionardo Carlos, PNP spokesman, is yet to issue a comment on the report.

The Secretary General noted in the report that children continue to be affected by low-intensity armed engagements, as well as large-scale military operations conducted by government forces against armed groups, primarily in Mindanao.

It also noted that grave violations during clashes between law enforcers and communist rebels decreased significantly following the resumption of the government’s peace talks with the National Democratic Front/New People’s Army (NDF/NPA) in the second half of 2016.

The report also suggests that the BIFF, Abu Sayyaf and the Maute group recruited children for combat and verified at least one incident where the AFP used a boy for a support role in Negros Occidental since 2013.