Specific information on the above-mentioned subjects could not be found among the sources consulted by the DIRB.

According to the Amnesty International Report 1996, government efforts to secure peace with Communist insurgents, including the NPA, remained deadlocked (1996, 252). Amnesty International also reported that attacks and human rights abuses by the NPA declined in 1995, but did not specify where these incidents had occurred (ibid.). Human Rights Watch/Asia and Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1995 also noted a decline in NPA activity and government counteraction without indicating where the conflict continued (HRW/A Apr. 1996, 5; Country Reports 1995 1996, 699).

In May 1996 the Philippine army reported that it had arrested a death squad leader of the Manila-Rizal Regional Committee, a Communist faction, who was also identified as a liaison officer with the NPA's General Command (Radio Filipinas 6 May 1996). In June 1996 another official associated with the death squad was arrested at his home in Rizal Province, where firearms and dynamite were found (GMA-7 Television 5 June 1996).

Additional and/or corroborating information could not be found among the sources consulted by the DIRB.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the DIRB within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

References

Amnesty International. 1996. Amnesty International Report 1996. New York: Amnesty International.

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1995. 1996. United States Department of State. Washington, DC: United States Government Printing Office.

GMA-7 Television [Quezon City, in Tagalog]. 5 June 1996. "Foreign Relations; Three Communist Leaders Reportedly Captured." (BBC Summary 6 June 1996/NEXIS)

Human Rights Watch/Asia (HRW/A). April 1996. Vol. 8, No. 3. The Philippines: Human Rights and Forest Management in the 1990s. New York: Human Rights Watch.

Radio Filipinas [Manila, in English]. 6 May 1996. "Internal Affairs; Army Arrests Another Leader of Communist Rebel Force." (BBC Summary 7 May 1996/NEXIS)

Attachments

GMA-7 Television [Quezon City, in Tagalog]. 5 June 1996. "Foreign Relations; Three Communist Leaders Reportedly Captured." (BBC Summary 6 June 1996/NEXIS)

Radio Filipinas [Manila, in English]. 6 May 1996. "Internal Affairs; Army Arrests Another Leader of Communist Rebel Force." (BBC Summary 7 May 1996/NEXIS)

Additional Sources Consulted

DIRB Philippines Amnesty International Country File. 1996.

DIRB Philippines Country File. 1996.

Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS) Daily Reports. 1996.

Human Rights Watch World Report 1996. 1995.

Keesing's Record of World Events. 1996.