Mauro Gia Samonte
HOW will Australia take a Filipino beating?
Toward the end of last year, some controversy was spawned by a Chinese cartoonist exposing through his art alleged atrocities committed by Australian troops against Afghan civilians at the height of the US-led anti-Taliban campaign in Afghanistan. The cartoon caught international attention and prompted Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison to angrily demand a Chinese apology. He considered it a great affront to the Aussie nation for its soldiers to be depicted as trigger-happy minions, getting a thrill from slaughtering defenseless civilians. One account cited those killings by young Australian troops as an exercise at giving them their taste of the “first kill.”
The Chinese foreign ministry, through its spokesmen, refused the demand, and to justify the negation, the ministry quoted accounts showing those atrocities as revelations resulting from investigations by Australian military authorities themselves. The more the Morrison apology demand amounted to Australia’s walk in the marsh in which it found itself enmeshed with every step.
It was true that Aussie troops killed Afghan civilians as young as children just for the thrill of it.
Ma-amor, regional chairman of the Kilusang Pagbabago in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, said in his letter to the ICC that he was doing it on behalf of his fellow internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Marawi City.
“The reported crimes against humanity committed by elite Australian troops in Afghanistan are truly disheartening and frustrating as our community strengthens ties in combating crimes against humanity,” Ma-amor said in his letter.
The peace activist deserves popular support in the effort. It is not often that we see an advocate for an otherwise unheralded cause taking up battle where more highly regarded crusaders shine. In this respect, he does the Filipino proud. For once, here is a guy who should be better off just minding his brethren in his native Philippines but bravely stepping forward to speak out over concerns in international relations.
For instance, he said it was also not right to stereotype Afghans as terrorists because like all nations, a vast majority of its population are civilians, non-combatants and protected under the Geneva Conventions on war. The ICC Office of the Prosecutor’s reply also states that Ma-amor’s letter has been duly registered in the Communications Register of the office.
Mark P. Dillon, head of the Information and Evidence Unit office of the ICC Prosecutor, reportedly assured Ma-amor that, “We will give this communication (Ma-amor’s letter) consideration as appropriate in accordance with the provisions of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.” The Rome Statute is the international treaty that created the ICC to which the Philippines is a signatory country since 2000. The Philippine Senate ratified it only in 2017.
So back to the opening question. Will Australia take this beating from a Filipino?
The fact that the ICC has taken cognizance of his letter shows the extent in which the issue could grow once the media listens. And in many instances, the unexpected explodes in an international milieu.
Remember the scuffle at the United Nations where Filipino legislator Lorenzo Sumulong got the Russian Premier Nikita Kruschev flailing his shoe at him for having the guts to stand up to him in a debate. As we say it in Tagalog, “Ang maliit lang ang nakakapuwing.”
Source The Manila Times06-03-2021