ASIA PACIFIC CENTRE - RESPONSIBILITY TO PROTECT ATROCITY CRIMES RISK ASSESSMENT SERIES THE PHILIPPINES VOLUME 7 - SEPTEMBER 2018 Acknowledgements This report was prepared by research interns and supported by the Centre’s staff at the Asia Pacif- ic Centre for the Responsibility to Protect based at the School of Political Science and Internation- al Studies at the University of Queensland. The Asia Pacific Risk Assessment series is produced as part of the activities of the Asia Pacific Cen- tre for the Responsibility to Protect (AP R2P). Photo acknowledgement: Konrad Binder Asia Pacific Centre for the Responsibility to Protect School of Political Science and International Studies The University of Queensland St Lucia Brisbane QLD 4072 Australia Email:
[email protected] http://www.r2pasiapacific.org/index.html INTRODUCTION The Philippines faces a number of risk factors for atrocities that stem primarily from the country’s unresolved armed conflicts and the inability of the state to promote good governance, ensure the rule of law, and hold civilian and security officials accountable for violations of international norms on human rights and humanitarian protection. Non-state actors such as combatants from commu- nist and Moro rebel groups, ISIS-affiliated militants, and political clans who rule with impunity and use political violence in Mindanao have also committed atrocities against civilians. More than three decades since the restoration of the democratic order in the Philippines, oversight bodies have been ineffective in ensuring that security forces and law enforcement personnel comply with rule law in the performance of their duties. In order to mitigate the continuing risks for atrocities from armed conflicts, the Philippine govern- ment should give priority to addressing the root causes of armed rebellion and political violence in poor areas of the country, most especially in Mindanao.