Amnesty Intl report says police framed, tortured single mom

Seven months after police officers arrested her without warrant and tortured her, a single mother remains in jail and her family is on the run, claims a report released by Amnesty International (AI) on Tuesday.

According to "Torture in 2014 - 30 Years of Broken Promises," Alfreda Disbarro was arrested in October 2013 in an internet cafe close to her home in Metro Manila. Plainsclothes policemen punched her in the chest and pointed a gun at her before arresting her without warrant on the charges of possessing and selling illegal drugs. Upon being frisked at the precinct, she was found clear of any substances, but was taken to a back room to be beaten.

"The officer was forcing me to confess that I was just using the name of the police to make money, and that I was a drug dealer," Disbarro, an occasional police informant, said in a statement released by AI.

Beaten, gagged, and framed

During her arrest, a police officer began elbowing Disbarro's torso and sides, said the report. In the station, she was then made to stand with a water bottle on her head and told not to move or be shot by a police officer.

Later, the report said, police officers beat her with their fists, a wooden baton, and a metal bar. Despite hiding under a table, she was still lashed with blows, and had her head slammed against a wall.

"He took a mop and forced the dirty and damp rag at the bottom of the mop into my mouth.Then he took it out and smeared my face with it," Disbarro told AI.

When she was allowed to see her family, she was told to keep her silence. But Disbarro managed to show her wounds to her family despite police watching the meeting.

"Kinausap ko yung pinaka-hepe nila dun... ang sabi niya, 'Wala lang, sa habulan lang 'yan'. Sabi ko, kung ipapagamot niyo siya eh 'di ngayon na. Sasama ho kami. Ayaw po niyang pumayag," said one of Disbarro's relatives, appearing in a video shot by AI with her face obscured.

An attending physician later admonished police officers for Disbarro's injuries, which included multiple contusions to her left forearm, left thigh, and left leg, said the group.

Disbarro was also made to sign a blank piece of paper and pose with "some money and a sachet of illegal drugs," said the report.

Disbarro remains in Parañaque City Jail, but is no longer in the hands of the police officers who tortured her, said Amnesty International.

According to AI researcher Hazel Galang-Folli, Disbarro's family continues to look for ways to get her freed. However, according to the AI video, Disbarro's family members were also forced to keep moving since her arrest, leaving them with no job and no means to bail her out.

"Naririnig ko nga sa isang pulis doon eh, 'Hayaan mo na, tapos na naman 'yun.' Insulto talaga sa amin 'yun, durug ka na, gaano ka pang dinudurog," said the family member.

Common fate for police assets, says AI

Another case presented in the AI report is the brutal killing of suspected thief Darius Evangelista.

Evangelista, arrested for robbery on March 5, 2010, was filmed while being tortured by police officers from Tondo, Manila. Several officers faced administrative charges, and Senior Inspector Joselito Binayug was dismissed, but for entirely different reasons.

"Na-dismiss po siya hindi on account for torture. Sabi po ng [PNP] Internal Affairs Service, idinismiss natin ito dahil meron siyang command responsibility at hindi niya na-supervise ang kanyang mga tauhan. Pero yung torture, hindi nila napag-usapan," said Folli.

Commission on Human Rights Director Karen Dumpit, one of the speakers during AI's event, said sanctions against abusive police officers have 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.

Disbarro's family hopes the Supreme Court or President Benigno Aquino III would shift their attention to the lack of disciplinary actions towards abusive police officers.

"Kung sino po talaga ang humahawak sa pinaka-mataas doon sa kapulisan, kapag nagkamali, talagang nagkamali. Para matigil ang torture na 'yan," Disbarro's relative said in the AI video.

She added, "Sana naman po tutukan nila. Talagang disiplinahin nila. Kung hangga't maaari [hindi lang] basta alisin—pagbayarin sa kanilang ginawa."

The PNP has yet to respond to GMA News Online's requests for comment. — BM, GMA News