Règle correspondante
Philippines
Practice Relating to Rule 129. The Act of Displacement
Section A. Forced displacement
The Philippines’ Military Instructions (1989) states that emphasis should be placed on allowing the civilian population to remain in their homes, on the basis that the large-scale movement of civilians creates logistical and strategic difficulties for the military.
Philippines, Safety of Innocent Civilians and Treatment of the Wounded and Dead, Directive to Commanders of Major Services and Area Commands, Office of the Chief of Staff, General Headquarters of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, Ministry of National Defence, 6 September 1989, § 3(c).
Under the War Crimes Trial Executive Order (1947) of the Philippines, applicable to acts committed during the Second World War, “violations of the laws or customs of war … [such as] deportation to slave labour or for any other purpose of civilian population of or in occupied territory” are war crimes.
Philippines, War Crimes Trial Executive Order, 1947, Part II(b)(2).
The Executive Order adds that “deportation [of] … civilian populations before or during the [Second World War] … whether or not in violation of the local laws” constitutes a war crime.
Philippines, War Crimes Trial Executive Order, 1947, Part II(b)(3).
The Philippines’ Republic Act No. 8371 (1997) on indigenous cultural communities and indigenous people states:
Rights during Armed Conflict.- ICCs/IPs [Indigenous Cultural Communities/Indigenous People] have the right to special protection and security in periods of armed conflict. The State shall observe international standards, in particular, the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949, for the protection of civilian populations in circumstances of emergency and armed conflict, and shall not recruit members of the ICCs/IPs against their will into armed forces, and in particular, for the use against other ICCs/IPs; not recruit children of ICCs/IPs into the armed forces under any circumstance; nor force indigenous individuals to abandon their lands, territories and means of subsistence, or relocate them in special centers for military purposes under any discriminatory condition.
Philippines, Republic Act No. 8371, 1997, Section 22.
In practice, the forced displacement of civilians during military operations in the Philippines has been widely reported.
Philippines, Presidential Human Rights Committee, Resolution 91-001 Providing for Guidelines on Evacuations, 26 March 1991, preamble; Ecumenical Movement for Justice and Peace, Fact-Finding Missions: Reflecting the Human Rights Situation in 1988, Justice and Peace Review, 1990, p. 9; Philippine Human Rights Information Center, The Internal Refugees in Negros: the case of “Operation Thunderbolt”, published by Human Rights Alliance in Negros (HRAN), Bacolod City, Philippines, October 1989, pp. 12–14, 29–31 and 76–85; Philippine Alliance of Human Rights Advocates (PAHRA), Report on the Implementation by the Philippine Government of Articles 10, 11 and 12 of the 1966 International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, 20 April 1995, pp. 1–4.
