AI on Cebu inmates stripped naked: Cruel, inhuman, degrading

Amnesty International on Thursday expressed concern over the recent dawn raid at the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center (CPDRC), during which inmates were stripped naked.

"This incident clearly amounts to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment of prisoners," Amnesty International (AI) said in a statement.

The group said it is the duty of authorities to "ensure that all persons deprived of liberty are protected from torture and other ill-treatment."

On Tuesday, inmates of the CPDRC were made to strip naked by anti-narcotics agents who conducted a drug raid after receiving reports of drug activity at the detention facility.

The Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) Region 7 seized contraband items such as cellphones, laptop, DVD recorders, deadly weapons, medium sachets of shabu and cash worth P91 thousand pesos.

A PDEA official said the inmates were made to strip for the safety of both the prisoners and the raiding team.

AI said the type of treatment employed to prisoners by authorities was "punishable by Philippine laws."

The group cited RA 9745 or the Anti-Torture Act, which defines the "cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment as a deliberate and aggravated treatment inflicted by a person in authority or agent of a person in authority against a person under his/her custody, which attains a level of security causing suffering, gross humiliation or debasement."

AI also urged the government to impose disciplinary sanctions to authorities who will be found responsible for torture and ill-treatment of prisoners.

"These sanctions should similarly apply to those who are exercising command responsibility," the group said, adding that the process of disciplining officers must be transparent to guarantee the protection of the right to a fair trial.

The Commission on Human Rights has already indicated its plan to investigate the incident. —NB, GMA News