4 ‘wheel of torture’ victims backed out from case due to intimidation –CHR exec

Four victims of the “wheel of torture” case in Biñan, Laguna, have backed out from the case due to alleged pressure and intimidation from some policemen.

Worse, the Commission on Human Rights (CHR), which has been helping the victims seek justice, is now being accused of manipulating the complainants.

“The Commission on Human Rights is now being implicated [in the case],” CHR special investigator Edgar de Luna told GMA News Online on Tuesday. “Ang sabi nila tinuruan lang daw namin ang mga complainant.”

“How about those victims na may mga sugat? Kami rin ba ang gumawa ng sugat na 'yon?” he added.

The “wheel of torture” refers to a roulette wheel that was allegedly used by some policemen in Biñan to pick a torture technique meted out to prisoners in a house converted into a prison.

Ten police officers have been suspended for running the secret prison where jailors reportedly wore wigs and masks while beating and abusing the inmates.

Fear for safety

De Luna said some of the victims are fearing for the safety of their kin.

“Minsan tumatawag nga sila, ang sabi pine-pressure yung pamilya. Sabi ng isa, 'Bakit, kaya niyo bang protektahan yung asawa ko? Ang nanay ko?' Yung mga talagang pulis ang kalaban nila,” he said.

Amnesty International does not find this surprising. According to Hazel Galang-Folli, the group's researcher in the Philippines, human rights victims in the country are too exposed to coercion by the people they are trying to prosecute.

“Posibleng nalapitan, o may intimidation na nangyari, harassment, o naimpluwensiyahan. Hindi lang mismo yung biktima yung nalalapitan, kung hindi yung pamilya,” she said during AI's “Torture in 2014” event in Quezon City.

Of the 44 detainees found in the secret detention cell in Laguna, only 23 filed complaints, according to CHR's De Luna, who  said some of the victims felt they didn't need to file a case since they only sustained minor injuries.

Legal obstacles

Though some policemen in the “Wheel of Torture” case have already been suspended, CHR director Karen Dumpit said sanctions remained largely at the administrative level.

“They're administratively sanctioned and let go. After that, kapag hinanap mo na sila, wala na sila sa hurisdiksyon, so hindi na nila mahahanap 'yun,” Dumpit said.

“If you let go of a subject under your jurisdiction, administratively, hindi mo na mapu-pursue yung criminal case because umaalis na nga, or tumatakas,” she added.

The physical state of torture victims during the act also hinder investigation, particularly in identifying the perpetrators, Dumpit said.

“Most of the time, torture victims are deprived of their senses,” she pointed out. “How can we achieve positive identification of our torturer if we cannot identify who they are?”

Such difficulties must be discussed, Dumpit said, in order to overcome “legal obstacles” that prevent the full enforcement of the laws already in place.  — KBK, GMA News