Saturday, February 12, 2011

CPP, NDF preparing to issue ceasefire declaration during new peace talks

CPP, NDF preparing to issue ceasefire declaration during new peace talks*


Information Bureau
Communist Party of the Philippines
February 12, 2011

The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) are preparing to issue simultaneous ceasefire declarations in the next few days to coincide with the resumption of formal peace negotiations on February 15-21 in Oslo, Norway.

"The ceasefire declaration will be issued with the objective of helping boost the peace negotiations," said the CPP.

"Important refinements are being made in the ceasefire declaration in order to ensure that unarmed civilians in revolutionary areas are not subjected to fascist abuse by AFP soldiers as what happened in the 19-day holiday ceasefire from December 19 to January 3,” added the CPP. "Scores of rights violations were committed by the AFP during this period."

"During the recent simultaneous ceasefire, AFP units continued to operate inside the guerrilla fronts and carried out so-called civil-military operations, which are nothing more than psywar and terror operations against civilian communities under Community Organizing for Peace and Development (COPD)," said the CPP.

"These were carried out in line with secret directives and guidelines issued by the AFP to their forces to ensure continued counter-guerrilla operations during the ceasefire," pointed out the CPP. "A number of CPP and NPA cadres and forces were arrested."

"The CPP and revolutionary organizations and affected civilian communities demand that AFP and police units stop conducting military operations targetting civilians including so-called 'civil-military' operations and instead just stay in their barracks during the upcoming week-long ceasefire period," said the CPP. "The NDFP has already formally transmitted this demand to the Philippine government's negotiating panel and is awaiting positive results."

* Url:http://theprwcblogs.blogspot.com/2011/02/cpp-ndf-preparing-to-issue-ceasefire.html