More than 200,000 civilians in central Mindanao are still vulnerable to abuses despite the recent ceasefire between the Philippine army and the insurgent Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF), warns Amnesty International said Tuesday.

Government forces and Muslim separatists are both guilty of the murder and torture of civilians caught up in a long-running rebellion in the southern Philippines, Amnesty International said.

The rights watchdog described the conflict on Mindanao island as "having the highest number of new internally displaced persons worldwide" with more than 750,000 people forced from their homes in the last 17 months of the conflict.

Hundreds of thousands of civilians "faced the risk of unlawful killings, enforced disappearances, torture, arbitrary arrests, displacement and burning and destruction of their homes," the watchdog said in a report.

The report details the risks that hundreds of thousands of people face as they are forced to live in camps or makeshift shelters, sometimes surrounded by a heavy military presence. Many of the displaced are still unable to return to their homes following the implementation of a ceasefire on 29 July 2009.

“The vulnerability and uncertainty which civilians in central Mindanao face makes it imperative that the government and the MILF put human rights at the top of their agenda during future peace talks, ” said Donna Guest, Amnesty International’s Asia Pacific Deputy Director.

The report highlights the desperate conditions of civilians living in crowded camps with limited access to food and livelihoods. The report also provides information about human rights abuses by both the army and the MILF against villagers in Maguindanao province, central Mindanao.

“Decades of conflict have inflicted scars on the civilians, who continue to live in fear, not knowing what tomorrow holds,” said Donna Guest. “The recent ceasefire agreement has raised their hopes, so the burden is now on the government and the MILF to demonstrate that they are sincere in prioritizing the well-being of the local population.”

MILF spokesman Eid Kabalu noted that both the MILF and the government had recently agreed to impose unilateral ceasefires ahead of the planned resumption of peace talks: "We are prepared for any investigations and in fact are encouraging the international community to visit us."