A recent UNICEF-commissioned study revealed that in the Philippines there were over 200,000 human rights violations against children who live in areas under military “counterinsurgency” operations. The violations took place in 800 incidents from 2001 to mid-2006. The report dismissed suggestions that armed resistance groups are forcefully recruiting children.
“The child respondents were all conscious of their poverty and the limited social services and options available to them,” the report said. “This volunteerism is premised on the credibility these groups have in the communities … which seems to be genuine and does not merely derive from sheer military control.”
Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo is a loyal U.S. ally and has carried out a brutal extermination campaign against political dissidents. The Communist Party of the Philippines welcomed the report, while the military moved to downplay its conclusions.
