The National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL) and human rights group Karapatan have called for an independent inquiry into the deaths of Benito and Wilma Tiamzon, leaders of the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) who were allegedly tortured and killed by the military. The NUPL said that the manner of their deaths violated international humanitarian law and that the killings have exposed the injustice of the current counterterrorism framework in the country, which blurs the distinction between armed conflict and terrorism. Karapatan cited that it is prohibited to harm civilians that are unarmed combatants or those who are no longer able to engage in combat under IHL, and said that the killing of the “Catbalogan 10” violated Republic Act 9851. The AFP denied allegations of capture and torture as claimed by the CPP. The Tiamzons were arrested in 2014 and were veterans of the anti-dictatorship struggle. They were released to join the peace negotiations with the Philippine government in 2016-2017 and were convicted in 2020 for kidnapping and illegal detention.
