The Office of the Presidential Adviser on Peace Process has organized an inter-agency group to monitor human rights violations allegedly committed by state security forces and communist New People’s Army rebels.

At the recent signing of Terms of Reference of the Complaints Monitoring Working Group in Manila, OPPAP Secretary Teresita Quintos Deles said “We have long recognized that respect for human rights is an indispensable ingredient in establishing and maintaining genuine peace.”

In a statement, Deles also said that the TOR emphatically reaffirms the government’s commitment to uphold human rights and international humanitarian law.

The CMWG, which is composed of the Department of Justice, Armed Forces of the Philippines and National Police, as well as Commission on Human Rights, was created to facilitate the investigation of violations of alleged human rights and IHL through cooperative efforts among its member agencies.

Jaime Arroyo, head of the monitoring committee secretariat, however, said that the CMWG itself is not an investigative body, but it will refer the victims’ complaints to offices of the government that are mandated to investigate and/or prosecute crimes against human rights laws.*GPB

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