MILF organizes military court

The Moro Islamic Liberation Front has put up a military court to deal with crimes committed by members of its military establishment. In a resolution adopted last month, the MILF Central Committee organized a five-member military court headed by top-level MILF military commanders. "The chairman comes from Lanao del Sur, the vice chairman from Maguindanao, and another member from Western Mindanao," the MILF said in an article in its website Saturday . But while the members of the court have been named, their identities are being withheld, pending clearance from the MILF central leadership. According to the MILF, one of the three members is a graduate of law in one of the universities in Manila. "To ensure there is no overlapping of powers and jurisdiction with the regular Shariah courts of the MILF, only cases involving military men of the MILF – and endorsed by the Shariah courts – will be tried by the military court," it said. The military court takes order from the MILF Shariah Court, but since the key players are military men, they coordinate closely with the General Staff of the Bangsamoro Islamic Armed Forces (BIAF). It decides by en banc decisions, but no decision is deemed final until reviewed by the MILF Supreme Court. But the MILF said that since it is a revolutionary organization, it reserves the final prerogative as to the disposition of the case. "Executions of decisions are not only viewed on the basis of legal and moral scruples but also on their political and social implications," it said. With the setting up of a military court, the MILF now has three tracks in resolving conflicts, including a reconciliation committee and Shariah courts. Cases involving discipline are usually handled by the reconciliation committee, and decision ranges from outright punishment to educating the erring MILF members. One of the most common causes of these disciplinary problems is the low ideological, political, and organizational consciousness of both political and military workers of the MILF. "Many just joined the MILF not out of conviction but because their fathers, mothers, brothers or sisters were killed by government soldiers," the MILF said. — LBG, GMANews.TV