MANILA (Reuters) - The Philippines' human rights body said on Thursday the military was responsible for the death of eight civilians, including a 4-year-old boy, in a raid on the southern island of Jolo.
A local director for the Commission on Human Rights (CHR),which conducted a probe into the incident, said the soldiersand the top military official on the island should be punishedfor the deaths on February 4
"In the military, ground troops follow their commander,"said Jose Manuel Mamauag. "So, the blame should go higher."
Mamauag said a full CHR report on the deaths would be madeavailable soon.
The Hong Kong-based Asian Human Rights Commission said thefindings of the state rights agency reinforced its own reportthat eight people died when troops fired indiscriminatelyduring operations on Jolo against Islamic militants.
"The families of the dead should also be given adequatecompensation and those requiring protection in the process ofprosecuting the case in court, once it is filed, are given sucharrangement," the rights group said in a statement on Thursday.
Tension has been building on the island since last week'sincident, which the military said was a legitimate operationafter two soldiers were killed and five were wounded infighting.
The military has acknowledged that eight civilians werekilled during the operation and has launched its owninvestigation. It has restricted 64 soldiers, including 48U.S.-trained anti-terrorist commandos, to barracks during theinquiry.
Some Muslim lawmakers had called on the military to scrapplanned military exercises between U.S. and Philippine troopson Jolo and on the main Mindanao island due to start next week.
(Reporting by Manny Mogato, editing by Carmel Crimmins)
