Posing body of slain enemy for photograph an 'outrage,' says HRW

Posing the body of an individual killed in an encounter for photographs is an "outrage" and prohibited under the laws of war, a Human Rights Watch (HRW) official said Thursday.

"Merely photographing fatalities of war is not a violation of international humanitarian law. However, posing the body for photographs is an outrage against the dignity of the individual who was killed, and is prohibited under the laws of war," said Phil Robertson, HRW's deputy Asia director, in a statement.

Robertson issued the statement following the killing of 22-year-old Jevelyn Cullamat, an alleged communist rebel and daughter of Bayan Muna party-list Representative Eufemia Cullamat, in a recent clash with government forces.

The military said the Jevelyn served as a medic of the New People's Army, the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines.

Following this, photos of Jevilyn’s body — with soldiers posing nearby as well as weapons and assorted rebel paraphernalia — circulated on social media.

Rep. Cullamat labeled this as a “desecration” of her daughter’s body and urged the Commission on Human Rights to investigate. The CHR, in response, has launched an investigation.

Robertson, in his statement, said posed photographs of the slain rebel "are a cruel and unnecessary affront to that individual’s dignity, and violate the laws of war."

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has denied using the body as a war trophy, saying the photos were taken "for reporting and documentation purposed."

"It was not meant to scoff at the dead or demean the remains whose identity is not known to the soldiers," AFP spokesperson Major General Edgard Arevalo .

According to HRW, committing outrages upon personal dignity is a war crime under the Rome Statute as it applies to dead persons under the Elements of Crimes of the International Criminal Court.

It also said that desecration of the war dead is likewise prohibited under the 1998 Comprehensive Agreement on Respect for Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law in the Philippines signed by the Philippine government and the National Democratic Front, the CPP's negotiating arm.

Even the AFP, HRW said, has its own “Military Instructions” of 1989 that states “respect for the dead which includes our own troops, the enemy and particularly innocent civilians must be a paramount concern of all commanders and troops at all levels … All dead bodies … must be handled humanely and treated with care and respect.” --KBK, GMA News