InPeace Mindanao says women and children bear the brunt of the all-out war in Sulu. (Photo by Suara Bangsamoro).

ILOILO CITY, Philippines, April 20, 2005 (IslamOnline.net) – The Mindanao island of Sulu, rocked by fierce fighting between government soldiers and Moro fighters in March, remains gripped in “continuing and intensifying human rights violations and grave disrespect” of the law, the Initiatives for Peace in Mindanao (InPeace Mindanao) said in a report on their “Sulu Mercy Mission.”

“With utter sadness and disgust we report the continuing and intensifying human rights violations and grave disrespect of the Government of the Republic of the Philippines to the International Humanitarian Law as it deals with the internal armed conflict in Sulu,” InPeace Mindanao, also known as Kalinaw Mindanao, said in a report received by IslamOnline.net Wednesday, April 20.

The group, tasked by the Lower House of Congress’ special committee on peace, reconciliation and unity to conduct the mission late last month, said their facts and testimonies reveal “various human rights violations have been committed by the elements of the Armed Forces of the Philippines.”

Government soldiers, the group said, committed “glaring incessant violations” of the International Humanitarian Law by turning mosques and schools into military encampments.

“Even private dwellings of Moro people were used for military purposes without permission endangering the lives of civilians,” the report read.

Indiscriminate aerial bombing and shelling on civilian populations using artillery, mortar and canyons resulting in massive evacuation and displacement of the communities, were also committed, the group said, on top of summary executions, desecration of remains, divestment and destruction of properties, looting, strafing, violation of domicile, grave threats and intimidation, and harassments.

The group also underscored that “the women and children of Sulu bear the brunt of this all-out war policy.” It said that the “children directly affected by the armed conflict have been traumatized by aerial bombings, the presence of government soldiers and high-powered firearms.”

The children’s “psychosocial well-being” was affected, the group said, resulting in the “erosion of [their] self-esteem and self-confidence.” The children’s development “is adversely affected by the inculcation of a culture of war and violence at their early age.”

The mission comprised 65 participants that included bishops, lawyers, human rights advocates, nuns, priests, pastors, doctors, health workers, child psychologists and social workers coming from various Muslim and Christian organizations.

Another group, Mindanao Peaceweavers, earlier reported an ongoing “state of war in Sulu” with “fear and insecurity” prevailing amid efforts to bring back the situation to normalcy.

Sulu was rocked by fresh firefight for weeks after MNLF fighters loyal to their founder Nur Misuari, who is in jail over rebellion charges, accused government forces of massacring a Muslim family, and attacked military posts in three Sulu towns last February 6.

The massacre of a Muslim family that sparked the war “is a classic story of the long list of injustices committed by the military and national government against the people of Sulu,” Amirah Ali Lidasan, one of the 65 mission members told IOL Wednesday.

“I am aghast to hear military officials and local government officials covering up the massacre and justifying the incident as an ‘encounter’ between the military and the Abu Sayyaf.”

Lidasan, who is also the vice chair of Suara Bangsamoro Organization, further said the “injustice suffered by the Padiwan family and the need to defend the lives of more Moro families who become the usual suspects of the AFP of aiding Abu Sayyaf in Sulu become the root cause of today’s conflict between the MNLF and the AFP.”

Arroyo’s regime is accused of “continuous total war policy… in blind obedience to the United States’ war of terror”

InPeace Mindanao, meanwhile, hit the “state’s all-out war policy in Sulu” that “has all the more aggravated” the deprivation of the people of basic social services for decades.

It criticized the Arroyo government for its “inadequate responses to the needs of evacuees cramped in centers and among houses of relatives, demonstrating its sheer insensitivity and outright lack of compunction for the welfare of civilian populations.”

It said, President Gloria Arroyo’s “continuous total war policy against the Moro people is but a part of its campaign against so-called terrorists in blind obedience to the United States’ war of terror. In effect, the legitimate struggle of the Moro people for self-determination and recognition is being undermined and maligned as terrorist acts.”

InPeace Mindanao is urging a stop of all military operations in Sulu and the pullout of soldiers from the island. Peace talks should immediately be held by all concerned parties, looking at the Tripoli Agreement and subsequent peace agreements for reference.

It also seeks an “in-depth and independent investigation” to determine “why the war in Sulu intensified given that there are existing agreements between the government and Moro National Liberation Front.

It wants the indemnification of all civilian victims of the military operations with the civilians being allowed to go back to their homes, their properties and other structures rebuilt and their livelihood restored.

“Serious efforts should be undertaken by the government to address the problem of peace and development of the Moro people. Foremost of which is to respect the right to self-determination of the Moro people.

“All programs for development should be designed and developed with the utmost democratic participation of the local people, putting their interest as primary consideration and not the dictates and vested interests of foreign corporations and multilateral agencies.”

Lidasan, on her part, said “the Arroyo government [have] to be sincere in its peace offer in Mindanao” as the war in Sulu “is a glaring example of failed peace negotiations, an insincere effort meant to crush and subdue the Moro struggle but not addressing the roots of the conflict.”