The National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC) takes strong exception to the call made by Dr. Ian Fry, visiting UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in the context of climate change, to “disband” the NTF ELCAC based on allegations of violations against environmental human rights defenders.
Fry, in his capacity as a UNSR on a country visit, has been given the freedom to move and inquire on matters related to his mandate. But apparently, due to reasons beyond us, he has not exercised this to its full potential, according to Sec. Eduardo M. Año, National Security Adviser and Vice Chairman, NTF ELCAC
In the interest of fairness and justice, he should have raised his concerns with us to ensure that he has full appreciation of the body’s mandate, operations, and over-all directions. Sadly, even if he had issues on the NTF ELCAC that are relevant to his report, he did not find time to do so, Sec. Año said.
The just the other day, a United Nations expert on climate change and human rights recommended the disbandment of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-ELCAC).
“I met with a number of CSOs (civil society organizations) and IPOs (indigenous peoples’ organizations) who told me horrific stories of how they’ve been treated. It is clear it is operating beyond its original mandate and is red tagging people from the community and the IPs. It appears as though that private financial interests are driving ELCAC to do this,” Fry said.
According to Fry, “There is no reasonable response that ELCAC can say to the fact that, I’ve heard stories of torture, disappearance and EJK of people. This is totally unacceptable. It seems the government has lost control on this military organization and are moving beyond what is considered reasonable.”
NTF-ELCAC reaction to this, We wish to assure him that the NTF-ELCAC is a working and effective human rights mechanism founded on the principles of good and inclusive governance and we could have helped him define it in his study.
Specifically, we would have been able to provide valuable inputs on how the NTF-ELCAC has brought peace and development in far-flung communities, many of which are indigenous cultural communities greatly affected by the impact of climate change, apart from being victims of violent extremists and terrorists, the National security Aadviser emphasized.
Therefore, in the absence of this clarificatory engagement with the NTF-ELCAC, Fry’s report must be deemed incomplete. Clarity in context is required to enrich his report and render the same relevant.
Reiterating that Fry has had a very limited time in his visit, we extend an open invitation to him for a dialogue in the near future before he finalizes his report. We would consider his acceptance of this offer as an indication to truly preserve the integrity of his mandate to engage States on matters of human rights in an inclusive, impartial, and non-discriminatory manner, Ano added.
