Updated July 19, 2017.
RINJ too, “Talks To The Troops”.
Don’t believe Duterte’s criminal rape stories.
He is a known thug & you are an unknown soldier.
Under 2017 Martial Law, Rape is a War Crime.
You will get known plus get life in prison for rape.
President Rodrigo Duterte talks to troops of Joint Task Force Sulu prior to his visit to wounded soldiers at Camp Teodulfo Bautista in Jolo, Sulu on May 27, 2017. PCOO/Released
“Sexual violence is not only employed as a tactic of war but also as a tactic of terror”, said former U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on April 13, 2015.
Do not rape. Huwag Mangrape. Read & share.
You were raped? Go here now.
June 07, 2017 – Manila, Republic of The Philippines — Filipino soldiers are reminded that under international law, those who rape will get ‘life’.
On 26 May this nation’s President Rodrigo Duterte, having declared Martial law in the Muslim region of Mindanao on 23 May (population estimated as high as 25 million), told the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) in a televised speech that each soldier could rape up to three women with impunity.
July 19, 2017 – Over 20,000 displaced civilians have been placed in grave risk of permanent injury or death. Babies and the elderly are perishing daily now. Nurses are reporting evacuation centres have no sanitation; little food; no clean water; and are rife with morbid diseases; human rights abuses; and lawlessness. It is a heart-wrenching disaster that nobody seems to care about save a handful of NGOs who fight martial law restrictions to try and help civilian survivors. Most volunteers fear coming here and wait until hostilities have ceased. Sign up here for now or later: rinj.org/Volunteer
Philippines President Duterte on 18 July said he will extend the period of martial law in the Mindanao region for all of 2017 and maybe beyond impacting roughly one quarter of the Philippines population.
Marawi, Lanao del Sur Bishop Edwin de la Peña has responded to Duterte with a strongly worded statement against both the government forces and the ‘Maute Gang’ of criminals who both have brought untold inhumanity and tragedy to Lanao del Sur.
The RINJ Foundation is investigating numerous complaints of sexual violence and human rights abuses committed equally by both sides in the dispute. The RINJ women urge for a cessation of hostilities and an end to the human rights violation of Mindanao Muslims under so-called “martial law”.
If the elected government in Manila is unable to govern all of the country without turning over governance of any part to the military, it should instead surrender control of the region in conflict to its own people and STOP abusing the Muslim community and the civilians of Mindanao.
There has been a valid peace proposal and self-government framework for Mindanao on the table in Manila since 2012. Framework-Agreement-on-the-Bangsamoro-original.
Duterte ended peace talks in April 2017 and when the Muslim extremists threatened to take action by invading Marawi, Duterte said “go ahead”.
Before that would happen, US troops and Armed Forces of The Philippines attacked Marawi and tried to arrest Isnilon Hapilon, the Islamic State’s (Abdulah al-Filipini) delegated Emir in South-East Asia where Muslim populations have been subjected to abuses for decades. That May 23 invasion was repelled vigorously and ordinary citizens began taking up arms against American and Philippines forces in Mindanao. Since then the conflict has been a beacon for every would-be Jihadist in the world. Nothing has bolstered ISIS recruitment more than this. The Duterte-Trump brothers in authoritarianism has been the best thing that could happen for Jihad.
On May 23 just like the Oplan Exodus ‘mission’, which took place on Sunday, January 25, 2015, at Tukanalipao, Mamasapano, Maguindanao, (the renowned Fallen Forty-Four) , Philippines soldiers were slaughtered by going after a locally-exalted religious leader without a plan nor available reinforcements.
Before the media could say “fallen forty-four“, Duterte declared his rationale for martial law as being an invasion, then a rebellion and now the reasons are forgotten as the mess worsens to include more militant groups saying they are fed up with what they describe as the Duterte government’s unprecedented incompetence and violence.
Hey soldier. Rape is no joke.
We know that rape is common in the Philippines, especially punitive or corrective rape plus the rape and sexual enslavement of children.
Don’t believe that there is impunity for rape. RINJ is prosecuting rapists vigorously and will “throw the book at them”.
It’s a different world now. Impunity for brutality against women and kids is over.
Because rape of Filipinos is so common, and because of the patriarchal culture of the Philippines, nobody takes rape survivors seriously. They are in fact subjected to levels of abuse from the President down that includes death to gain witness-silence. Is this the kind of treatment you want for your mother or wife? Because we know that, we and over 100,000 volunteer members in the Philippines seek aggressive action.
RINJ has news for soldiers under Duterte’s command.
- You are far outside the protection of President Duterte.
- Your AFP has an abominable human rights record going back to the martial law days of raping and torturing for Dictator Marcos.
- The world is light years ahead of this backwards, scurrilous, neanderthal conduct.
- Women have rights equal to men.
- You have mothers, daughters, wives, sweethearts, maybe even children at home. Treat other women and children better than you treat those of your own family because you will be brought to account for your conduct.
When it comes to sexually violent crimes in war zones, it’s the world that will prosecute offenders, not some bribed Judge in your Baranggay (Barrio).
When the head of state of a 105 million pop. nation tells the nation’s troops under Martial Law that they will have impunity for raping the Mindanao Muslim women, it is not a joke, it is a serious crime in international law and in Philippines law.
It is also stepping into the bounds of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.
Because the Philippines is in a state of ‘Armed Conflict’ involving its military; and because the country is under martial law meaning that the country’s government has deemed itself unable to govern the nation and handed governance of part or all the country to a military force, the Rome_Statute_(English) Of The International Criminal Court applies as the rule of law; so also does UN-Resolution-1820-N0839144 which exists as a Resolution of the UN Security Council for the purpose of assailing impunity of offenders who commit sexual violence in areas of conflict.
If you are fighting the Islamic State, it is a sad reality you will be in like-minded company on your reputation and your CiC’s instructions to rape. Tolerance of your misconduct is ‘zero’. The Islamic State, Boko Harem, Abu Sayyaf, al-Quaeda and other heinous-crime, war-rape offenders are about to be fried if not already. Tens of thousands of these murdering rapists have been slaughtered in the Middle East. Why would you behave like them? Are you like one of those animals? Are you the enemy or are you a protector of your countrymen?
Mr. Duterte has declared war; the Philippines is embroiled in an armed conflict; and Dictator Duterte has told troops currently loyal to him that they may rape the women in the area of operation (Mindanao). Any rape that does occur in a war zone (Mindaao) comprises a war crime. You are watched closely. We know your names and your home whereabouts. We are Filipinos too.
An easier case-charging argument to make with some certainty of success is that rape in this conflict of Marawi, Mindanao is a systemic crime against humanity and against a class of people, because of the dispatch of the Commander-in-Chief who already has a mass-murder case before the International Criminal Court and is facing the disapproval of the entire free world.
The war-crime charge would be brought under the Rome_Statute_(English) Of The International Criminal Court.
In a televised and distributed “speech to the troops” Duterte has handed us what we need to prove that in the Philippines conflict between the State and some religious fundamentalists, rape is being ordered by the state as a tactic of war and a tactic of terror. This has disgraced the Philippines’ people in front of the world. Don’t add to that.
Technically, conviction of one rapist who heard Duterte’s order, would prove the larger crime. The order was given, then followed.You then put the AFP in the same class as the Islamic State–any member is a criminal. Ideally an international prosecutor would want all offenders charged, convicted, and punished.
What would you want for your family members if they were sexually violated in such a manner?
“Sexual violence in conflict needs to be treated as the war crime that it is; it can no longer be diminished to an unfortunate collateral damage of war.” UN Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict, Ms. Zainab Hawa Bangura
Today UN Resoluton 1820 and the Rome Statute set out strident rules of law that remove any hope of impunity for sexual violence crimes in areas of conflict.
This despotic leader (Philippines’ Rodrigo Duterte) will be convicted of crimes against humanity,
probably posthumously because of his advanced age and because he lives a very unhealthy life of booze and drug-abuse.
So what happens to Soldiers who Rape in areas of Conflict?
- Prepare yourself to deal with your disgraced unit and also serve a life sentence in prison possibly in another country.
- There is no limitation on the time it takes to charge you with this crime. Some convictions come 1-15 years after the crime.
- It may help you understand your fate to know that survivors of rape by soldiers in armed conflicts most often do not tell of the crime for years. If more complainants come forward after you have been convicted you will have more cases, more costs to your family and more disgrace. It is possible you could face the death penalty, as you know, depending on the outcome of President Duterte’s effort to reinstate capital punishment for Filipinos as young as nine.
- Your conviction will serve to prove a crime by your country and its leaders that is greater than your crime, like crime against humanity; genocide; or aggression. The first two are the most likely.
- Your action will motivate an enhanced recruitment process by extremely violent persons who live by an aggression ideology you, your family and friends, might not survive.
- Your country will be imperiled by continuous random acts of terrorism because of the crimes against a class of individuals you have offended. Do not rape.
- Your spiritual advisors will likely tell you your punishment is hell, but we think a very ugly life imprisonment is a sure thing.
- Your family will be subjected to horrible persecution because the military will see you as being one of the people who tainted and destroyed the image of your Military unit; brought shame to every Filipino; and brought horrible shame to your community. (You are a soldier, paid to protect your countrymen. Why in hell would you be raping the people you swore to protect? Your punishment will be awful. So it should be.)
- Your unit will likely be disbanded. Members will hate you.
- You know how goes the centuries-old nasty military cultural adage of armies past and present: “Catch a thief in the barracks and you cut of his hand. Catch a rapist in the barracks and you cut off his d***”. You know what that means, right? Your own peers may turn on you violently because you disgraced your uniform, your unit and your AFP.
Here’s the scoop: Don’t rape, no matter what you think your orders are. It is not necessary for you to obey a bad order. Do not rape.
Huwag Mangrape.
Read: Collecting War-Zone Evidence of Sexual Violence
I have been raped! What do I do.
Get to safety. Visit Helpline
You can file a detailed report here.
The RINJ Foundation has volunteers in the field, collecting evidence; doing survivor medical support and case work reporting. Any person can file a report of war-time rape of their own experience or their knowledge of crime against another person by submitting photographs you found online or on your phone or a witness’ device (especially identification photos of perpetrators before, at, or after the material time) and evidence documents here. You can file a detailed report here.
Join the Team
RINJ is offering PTSD treatment and general health care in the region. If you are a doctor or nurse, please volunteer your services to our fellow Filipinos. Sign up here: rinj.org/Volunteer
