Feb 15 (Reuters) - Formal peace talks between the Philippine government and the country's main Maoist-led rebel group resume on Tuesday in Oslo, Norway, after a break of more than six years. [ID:SGE71E02J]
The 4,000-member New People's Army (NPA), military arm of the Communist Party of the Philippines, has tried to overthrow the national government since the late 1960s, and has kept fighting even after democracy was restored in 1986.
The four-decade-long conflict has left about 40,000 people dead and stunted growth in resource-rich rural areas across the archipelago of 7,100 islands.
Peace talks brokered by Norway have resulted in about a dozen agreements, including a Joint Monitoring Committee to address allegations of human rights cases committed by both sides.
Here are some facts about the peace talks:
- The Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) was organised by university professor Jose Maria Sison in late 1968 to overthrow the government and set up a communist state anchored on Marxist-Leninist and Mao Zedong's ideologies. Soon after, the group's armed wing, New People's Army (NPA) was organised.
- Peace talks between the government and Maoist-led rebels first started in early 1986 after Cory Aquino was swept into power by a popular uprising that toppled the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos. A ceasefire agreement was also reached.
The ceasefire and negotiations ended in Jan. 1987 when security forces opened fire on a large group of farmers marching outside the presidential palace to demand land reform to allow poor and landless peasants to own farmlands.
- Fidel Ramos, a retired general and former defence chief, reopened peace negotiations with the Maoists after he was elected president in 1992.
A deal was signed in The Hague establishing a four-phase process to discuss a formal agenda on human rights, social and economic reforms, political and constitutional reforms and disposition of forces.
- In 1998, the two sides signed an agreement to respect human rights and international humanitarian law, the only major achievement in peace negotiations.
A year later, the rebels turned their back on negotiations after senators allied with President Joseph Estrada voted to ratify the Visiting Forces Agreement between the Philippines and the United States, allowing American soldiers to hold exercises and train with Filipino troops in the country.
- The rebels resumed peace talks when Vice President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo came into power in 2001 after Estrada was forced to step down over allegations of corruption.
Leftist groups supported anti-Estrada protests and Arroyo returned the favour by helping them win seats in the House of Representatives in the May 2001 elections for the first time since the 1978 elections.
- Meetings in Feb, April and June 2004, hosted by Norway, led to the setting up of a Joint Monitoring Committee.
In Aug 2004, the rebels postponed formal talks after the United States and some European states placed Sison and the NPA on a terrorist group blacklist.
There were informal talks over the next five years, but in Feb 2010 the rebels officially abandoned talks after 43 health workers were arrested in a raid at a farmhouse in Rizal province and accused of belonging to the NPA.
- After taking office last June, President Benigno Aquino promised to work to end the country's two insurgencies; talks with Muslim separatists restarted last week. He ordered state prosecutors to drop cases against the 43 health workers.
In an informal meeting in Hong Kong in Dec. 2010, the two sides agreed to resume formal talks in early 2011 and impose a Christmas ceasefire. (Reporting by Manny Mogato; Editing by John Mair and Daniel Magnowski)
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
