MANILA—Peace prospects in the Muslim-dominant southern island of Mindanao will remain elusive as long as Muslims continue to fall preys to gross rights violations and heavy-fisted policies, a human rights group has affirmed.

"This report would contradict the statement of President Gloria Arroyo that she will bring peace to Mindanao," Sittie Rajabia Sundang, the secretary-general of Kawagib Moro Human Rights Organization, told IslamOnline.net.

In its annual report, the group says government's pledges to bring peace to long-battered Mindanao, the birth place of Islam in the Philippines, are belied by gross rights violations.

"There is still no atmosphere of peace in the Moro areas in Mindanao," it underlined.

Kawagib said that from January to November 2007 alone, there were 21 cases of human rights violations committed by the military, police and intelligence agents against Muslims in the southern provinces.

"These include violation of civil and political rights, violation of right to life and violation against property."

More than 75,000 civilians have been displaced in the Muslim provinces of Basilan, Midsayap and Sulu.

"Sulu was the hardest hit by a combination of ground troops commandos and indiscriminate aerial bombardment, with a total of 58,500 persons displaced due to three military operations," said the watchdog group.

the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF)has been struggling for an independent state in the mineral-rich southern region of Mindanao since 1978.

At least 125,000 have been killed in the conflict.

The government has announced an intention to draft constitutional amendments to allow the creation of a federal homeland for Muslims in the south.

Manila and MILFhave already agreed to the scope and boundaries of "ancestral domain" or communal land that Muslims lost when the colonial government introduced a system of land titles.

Dim Prospects

The rights organization blamed Muslims' plight in 2007 on "the combined anti-terror policies of the US government and the Philippine government."

These policies brought about a "militarized community" where civilians were "becoming more vulnerable with the deployment of massive government forces and foreign troops in their communities."

Worse still, the group predicts that 2008 could even bring more troubles for southern Muslims.

"This year, there will be another round of Balikatan [Philippine-US military exercises] in different parts of Moro provinces," Sundang, the group chief, told IOL.

"As what we have experienced in the past few years, the presence of the US worsens the human rights situation," she added.

According to testimonies of many southerners, she explained, American troops participate in actual combat operations with the army rather than just observe or provide expert advice.

"They are disregarding the will of the Moro people," said Sundang.

The US is the main defense ally of the Philippines.

American troops engaging in military exercises and other activities in the country are immune by the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA), which provides legal protection for any soldier charged with a crime in the Asian country.

"We expect more human rights violations as we all know what kind of government we have," Sundang contends.

To help them fight for their rights, Kawagib plans to give Muslims in the southern provinces training courses.

The group will take its awareness courses "to the grassroots and village levels, especially in those communities that are highly militarized like Sulu, Basilan and Central Mindanao."

It also hopes the Moro people will be "empowered with basic human rights principles and equipped with the know-how to protect and assert their rights.

"We are calling on our Muslim brothers and sisters to be more vigilant this year."

Source: Defy Mindanao Peace Jan 18, 2008