In observing International Humanitarian Law (IHL) day on August 12, the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) and the New People’s Army (NPA) reaffirmed their readiness to uphold the “Declaration of Compliance with International Humanitarian Law ” issued by the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) on August 15, 1991, which emphasized the NDFP’s voluntary compliance with Protocol II of the Geneva Conventions and IHL in general. At the same time, they held Marcos Jr armed forces backed by US imperialists for their continuing violations of human rights and international humanitarian law. They inflict the most brutal forms of fascist repression against the masses of workers and peasants, as desperate measures to preserve the ruling system of corruption, exploitation and oppression.

The Geneva Conventions in 1949 are composed of four international treaties and three additional protocols. These documents set out legal standards for the humane treatment of non-combatants in war and provide protection for individuals who are not or are no longer capable in participating in armed conflicts.

The revolutionary movement led by the CPP, NPA and NDFP, and the Government of the Republic of the Philippines are co-belligerents in a civil war since the late 1960’s. Through this formal declaration, the NDFP affirmed to the Filipino people and the international community its commitment to humanize the conflict as part of its firm pursuit of a just, enduring and liberating peace in the Philippines.

The NDFP pushed for the signing of the Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law (CARHRIHL) with the GRP on March 16, 1998 in The Hague, The Netherlands.

Marco L. Valbuena, CPP chief information officer, stressed that the Party and the NPA strictly comply with these documents in advancing the armed struggle for national liberation from US imperialism and to end the oppressive and exploitative rule of puppet ruling classes.

The regime’s forces, on the other hand, subject peasant communities to military rule, violate civil freedoms, and destroy their means of livelihood. They killed extrajudicially 78 Party cadres and Red fighters including six NDFP peace consultants.

Recently, a fact-finding mission cited serious violations of the US-Marcos regime's fascist forces of  international humanitarian and human rights laws in the killing of the “Toboso 19” in Negros Occidental last April 19 by its armed forces. The FFM report said state forces could clearly see who were armed and who were not, even as residents confirmed that nine of the fatalities in the alleged encounter on April 19 were civilians.