Peace group dismayed by assigning civilian protection to IMT

MALAYBALAY CITY (MindaNews/28 October) – A peace advocacy group in Mindanao has expressed dismay over the decision assigning the implementation of the Agreement on the Protection of Civilian Component to the International Monitoring Team, the body overseeing the ceasefire agreement between the military and Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

The Mindanao People’s Caucus said delegating the task to the IMT “tends to create the false impression that it is simply an afterthought – an adjunct to the ceasefire monitoring mandate of the IMT which at this point in time it has not even fulfilled for a reason which is not of its own fault.”

MPC said the task of protecting civilians deserves “appropriate, effective, vigilant and influential mechanism that can break the impunity of human rights violations and war crimes committed in the context of the armed conflict.”

It noted that there have been serious and grave attacks and abuses committed against civilian communities.

The group, however, clarified that it supports and recognizes the importance of the IMT but that it would be too much to impose upon it the task of protecting the civilians.

“If the IMT and the peace panels could not even manage at this point to declare a ceasefire and bring the IMT back to Mindanao, how much more if we add this new mandate of civilian protection to the IMT? If it is already difficult to fulfill its mandate to implement the ceasefire agreement, how can we expect it to deliver yet another gargantuan mission of protecting the civilians?” MPC said.

The group said it would be better to allow the IMT to fulfill its primary mandate of helping the peace process in Mindanao.

It also noted that the agreement is silent on the role and participation of women despite the fact that women leaders have already submitted to the peace panels their proposed women’s framework on civilian protection. (MindaNews)