Out of context
In its critique on the Paris Principles, the CRC said the Paris Principles are based primarily on the experience and practices of African countries. The African experience of armed conflict primarily consists of “internecine wars” or “inter-racial wars”.
Macaspac said the Philippine context of armed conflict is different as it is a war of national liberation. “It is a war waged by the people against an oppressive and repressive state that violates people’s rights with impunity…The state is the number one violator of people’s rights, including children’s rights.”
The CRC critique further said, “The Paris Principles does not take into context the situation of children as part of the situation of their oppressed and repressed families and communities. It views children as passive and individual receivers of rights and welfare that should be protected as individuals.”
Non-state actors
Macaspac said that while the Paris Principles holds both the State Armed Forces and the non-state armed groups responsible for the protection of civilians under their controlled areas, the accountability of the State is not given emphasis. “In fact, non-state actors are at a disadvantage because it is the State that is required to make the laws. Of course, such laws will not be made in such a way that it can be used against the State,” the CRC said.
Macaspac said armed groups in the Philippines have made clear their stand on the issue of ‘child soldiers.’
The New People’s Army (NPA), Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and the National Democratic Front (NDF) have encouraged and recognized the participation of children and youth in the national democratic revolution. The CPP, in adherence to the Geneva Conventions, has made it a policy not to recruit children below 18 years of age for armed combat.
On the other hand, the Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) said it is stated in their Q’uran that they can train muhajideens for the jihad or holy war. The MILF also said it is their obligation to take custody of children who lost their parents in war.
Existing international humanitarian and human rights law allows the recruitment of persons between the age of 15 and 18 as combatants of a party to an armed conflict.
The Paris Principles, the CRC said, undermines certain provisions of the Geneva Protocols that recognize the right of people to wage war against the state if the latter is deemed to be oppressive.
Peñalosa said the Philippines is among the 23 countries being monitored by the UN Security Council that recruit ‘child soldiers.’ She noted, however, that most countries in the list have active national liberation movements and anti-imperialist movements.
“The Paris Principles does not mention as part of its over-arching principles, the right of children to participate in process that will genuinely ensure that their rights and freedom are defended, protected and upheld. It does not emphasize the participation of children, in their evolving capacities, in community processes that serve to protect, defend and uphold their rights as a community,” said the CRC in its critique.
