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Philippine military under fire for misquoting UN rights rep

Indigenous group in Mindanao falsely portrayed as trafficking victims, official says
Philippine military under fire for misquoting UN rights rep

Tribal people who fled their villages in Mindanao clash with police trying to evict them from a Protestant church compound in Davao City July 23. (Photo courtesy of Kilab Productions)

Published: August 14, 2015 03:25 AM GMT
Updated: August 13, 2015 06:51 PM GMT

A U.N. official tasked with advocating for internally displaced people said the Philippines military has misrepresented his views on a botched police eviction at a church sheltering displaced minorities.

In an Aug. 7 press release, the Philippine military's Eastern Mindanao Command quoted Beyani as saying that indigenous people sheltering at a Protestant church in Davao City were not displaced from their ancestral homes, but are victims of human trafficking.

But in an Aug. 13 response, Chaloka Beyani, the United Nations special rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons, said he was “appalled” by what appeared to be “a gross distortion” of his views.

"Let me be absolutely clear, the indigenous persons in Davao are not victims of human trafficking," the U.N. official said.

"The indigenous peoples whom I interviewed informed me that they relocated to [the Protestant church compound in Davao] freely and in response to the militarization of their lands and territories and forced recruitment into paramilitary groups," Beyani said.

Maj. Harold Cabunoc, chief of the civil military relations of the Philippine army, said the military statement in question was based on a meeting between Beyani and representatives of government agencies.

Beyani was in the Philippines until July 31 for a 10-day official visit at the invitation of the government.

The visit coincided with the police raid July 23. At least 15 people were hurt when police broke into the United Church of Christ compound in Davao City in an attempt to remove some 700 indigenous people who were sheltered there.

They had been living at the evacuation center since May, after fleeing their homes in distant villages because of military operations against communist rebels.

Church leaders and human rights groups roundly denounced the raid. A Protestant bishop and the displaced tribal people have already filed a complaint against police and national authorities following the eviction attempt.

Nancy Catamco, head of the Committee on Indigenous Peoples in the Philippines Congress, said she had ordered the raid. She had earlier accused rights groups of “kidnapping” and “manipulating” the displaced people.

For now, Beyani, the special rapporteur, is urging all sides to be careful with their words.

“It is essential to avoid any form of manipulation of their situation by any party, governmental or nongovernmental," he said in his Aug. 13 statement, adding that no attempt should be made to forcibly remove the people from the Protestant church compound.

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