Thursday, May 08, 2008 Group hopes to ferret out truth in Comval crossfire By Carlo P. Mallo
THE Commission on Human Rights Southern Mindanao sees nothing wrong with human rights group Karapatan investigating the wounding of two girls caught in the crossfire between government soldiers and the New People's Army (NPA) last April 26 in a remote village in Monkayo, Compostela Valley.
As long as its intention is to find the truth, added the commission, then it has all the right to start a probe.
"It is their right to call for an investigation, but their investigation must be to ferret out the truth," CHR Southern Mindanao Regional Director Alberto Sipaco Jr. said in an interview with Sun.Star Tuesday.
Two girls, aged six and nine, were wounded during a gunbattle between the military and the NPA.
The NPA has already claimed responsibility for hitting the two children during the gun battle.
A military official, however, lambasted the calls of Karapatan for the NPA to investigate its ranks over the wounding of the two children. "It's a theatrical show as Karapatan tries to save its reputation, having been known to many as a CPP/NPA/NDF front organization," Major Medel Aguilar, chief of the 5th Civil Relations Group, said in a separate interview.
