Syrian rebels who seized 21 Filipino UN peacekeepers in the Golan Heights want the Red Cross to escort them out of the area because of fighting with Syrian government forces, the Philippine military said yesterday.
Reacting to the military report, Philippine Red Cross Chairman Richard “Dick” Gordon inquired with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to validate it.
“I have asked the ICRC that once they validate the report, to immediately set in motion the process for the safe retrieval of our countrymen and other UN peacekeepers,” Gordon said.
The 21 peacekeepers were seized Wednesday near the Syrian village of Jamlah, just a mile from the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights in an area where the UN force had patrolled a ceasefire line between Israel and Syria without incident for nearly four decades.
Armed Forces of the Philippines spokesman Col. Arnulfo Marcelo Burgos said that the rebels were willing to release the peacekeepers, and asked for the ICRC to escort them to a safe area.
According to Burgos, the rebels said the peacekeepers have to be removed because there was heavy fighting in the area.
He said the information came from the UN command in the Golan Heights, which was negotiating for the release of the peacekeepers.
“They want the ICRC to pick them up and escort them,” Burgos said. “Hopefully they will really be released and we are also waiting for that.”
The peacekeepers said in videos posted online that they were being treated well.
“To our family, we hope to see you soon and we are OK here,” said a peacekeeper shown in one video. He was one of three troops dressed in camouflage and blue bullet-proof vests emblazoned with the words UN and Philippines.
However, a rebel spokesman seemed to suggest the hostages were also serving as human shields. If the UN troops are released and leave the area, the regime could kill “as many as 1,000 people,” said the spokesman, who spoke via Skype and did not give his name for fear of reprisals.
The UN and the Philippine government condemned the seizure of the peacekeepers and called on the rebels to immediately release them.
“We continue to pray for the safety of the peacekeepers and hope for their immediate release,” Gordon said.
See You Soon
Meanwhile, the kidnapped Filipino peacekeepers posted online, telling their families that they are safe.
“We hope to see you soon and we are okay here,” they said in videos posted online.
“We, the UN personnel here, are safe, and the Free Syrian Army are treating us good,” said one of the three Filipinos dressed in camouflage and blue bulletproof vests marked “UN” and “Philippines” in one of the videos. “We cannot go home because the government of (Syrian President Bashar Hafez al-Assad) do not stop the bombing.”
Another video shows six peacekeepers sitting in a room. An officer, later identified as Capt. Cyrus Meneses, says that as their convoy came under shelling on Wednesday.
“We stopped and civilian people helped us for our safety and distributed us in different places to keep us safe,” he said in English.
The 21 Filipino peacekeepers were abducted near the village of Jamlah in the Golan Heights on Wednesday.
In an earlier video also posted online, a man identified as a spokesperson for the Martyrs of Yarmouk Brigades said his group would hold the peacekeepers until Assad’s forces withdrew from Jamlah.
The UN already said it is trying to negotiate the release of 21 peacekeepers abducted by Syrian rebels and will review security for its Golan Heights observer force.
“The mission has been in touch with the peacekeepers by telephone and confirmed they have not been harmed,” UN spokesman Martin Nesirky said.
“The United Nations is working to secure the release of the peacekeepers.”
Meanwhile, European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice President of the Commission Catherine Ashton expressed alarm by the detention of the Filipino peacekeepers.
“The EU condemns arbitrary detentions and actions such as hostage-taking as they are serious breaches of international law,” the spokesperson of Ashton said in a statement issued on Friday. “The EU considers any attacks on the UN or its personnel unacceptable and demands the immediate and unconditional release of the peacekeepers.”
According to spokesperson, High Representative Ashton, “calls for good and swift cooperation of the parties to resolve the situation as soon as possible.”
“She calls on all parties involved to refrain from any actions that may have negative effects on regional stability and to respect UN Security Council resolutions and the status of UNDOF.”
On Thursday, the Philippine government strongly condemned the illegal detention of the Filipino peacekeepers.
“The apprehension and illegal detention of the Filipino peacekeepers are gross violations of international law,” said Foreign Affairs Secretary Albert F. del Rosario.