The National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-Elcac) will seek global pressure to push the Dutch government to deport Jose Maria “Joma” Sison to the Philippines to make him pay for the crimes committed by the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army, particularly violations of the International Humanitarian Law.
Undersecretary Severo “Nonoy” Catura, task force spokesperson on the peace process, human rights and international engagements, said the government will bring the matter to the United Nations, which is slated to meet this week.
The move comes a week after the killing of Keith Absalon and his cousin who died when NPA rebels exploded an anti-personnel mine in Masbate.
The task force said the NPA violated the Anti-Personnel Mine (APM) Treaty Convention signed in 1997 that bans the use of such weapons “especially by terrorist groups.”
“All European nations, including the Netherlands, have ratified and acceded to this (banning of APM),” Catura said in a briefing on Monday. He pointed out Sison is in the Netherlands supposedly for humanitarian reasons, but he is responsible for ordering the Communist Party of the Philippines New People’s Army National Democratic Front (CPP-NPA-NDF) to carry out attacks using APMs against government troops and civilians.
Catura said the death of Keith Absalon and his cousin might serve as the key for global pressure to bring back Sison to the country to answer for his heinous crimes.