LONDON, Dec. 10 (UPI) -- Philippine President Benigno Aquino says 43 alleged Communist rebels detained for nearly a year and denied "due process" will be released.
The detainees were arrested by the military in February when they attended a health workshop near Manila, the BBC reported.
The government claims the detainees are members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front, a militant splinter group of a larger Muslim population who want their own autonomous region in Mindanao.
The Philippine government has engaged in on-again-off-again talks with the MILF and other breakaway factions since the 1970s, but the current Communist Party leader, Louie Jalandoni, said the effort to free the detainees made by the Aquino government is a positive step toward future talks, the BBC said.
The Morong 43, as those arrested are known, said they were denied access to lawyers and held isolated in a military camp.
"We recognize their right to due process was denied them," Aquino said.
Aquino said they would be freed next week as part of his government's commitment to human rights.
"For the first time in decades, we have a government that is serious about human rights. The culture of silence, injustice and impunity that once reigned is now a thing of the past," he said.
