Rights groups mark 33rd year of UN treaty vs. torture amid lockdowns

Human rights groups and advocates commemorated on Friday the 33rd anniversary of the United Nation’s treaty against torture, under the shadows of tortuous lockdowns and physical distancing protocols that restrict gatherings and movements due to the COVID-19 threat.

But restrictions on street marches and public gatherings failed to stop human rights groups and advocates led by the United Against Torture Coalition (UATC)-Philippines to air their rage against the “continued” acts of torture "perpetrated by authorities."

In a joint statement given to media, UATC and its partner advocates and organizations, said that a "torture-free" Philippines must be “the new normal,” referring to the government’s thrust of re-engineering social and economic activities, citing the threats of the COVID-19 pandemic.

UATC and its partners denounced the continued practice of torture and inhuman treatment of persons in custody.

“Torture is an unequivocal crime. Under the UN Convention against Torture (UNCAT), torture is prohibited under all circumstances, without exception.  Yet torture is still commonplace and systematically being practiced by many States including the Philippines in the conduct of custodial investigation under the guise of combating terrorism, curbing criminality, and maintaining peace and order,” the joint statement said.

It noted that while the Philippines is considered one of its kind in Asia for criminalizing torture as a specific criminal offense with the passage of the Anti-Torture Act in 2009, the Philippine government failed to fully and effectively implement the law with reported cases of torture and ill treatment has continued unabated.

According to Rose Trajano, Philippine Alliance of Human Rights Advocates (PAHRA) secretary general, “despite having a law criminalizing torture and ill-treatment, there are still reported cases of torture being committed inside detention centers and prison cells, on the city streets and in remote villages, especially as the height of the government’s war on drugs.”

She warned that “the Anti-Terror bill which is just awaiting the President’s signature will further institutionalize the acts of torture as the proposed law authorizing warrantless arrests and prolonged detention of suspects by which torture usually occurs.”

The Task Force Detainees of the Philippines (TFDP), another UATC partner, “has monitored that most of those arrested for allegedly violating quarantine restrictions suffered from cruel and degrading treatment or punishment such as the locking up of five youths inside a dog cage, some curfew violators were ordered to sit in the intense midday sun, and others were paraded chanting prayers and promises not to do it again,” the statement added.

“Today eleven years after the passage of the anti-torture law, it remains a practice. These dehumanizing acts must be banished from our midst through arrests and effective prosecution of torturers. Torture must have no place in our society,” said Fr. Christian Buenafe, O.Carm, chairperson of TFDP.

“This act of cruelty leaves unseen scars especially on mind of the torture victims that last a lifetime”, explained by Edeliza Hernandez, executive director of the Medical Action Group (MAG) on the effects of torture. 

Hernandez emphasized that torture does not only torment the victims but the society as well, pointing out that majority of the perpetrators go unpunished and most torture victims are usually from vulnerable sectors who lack resources to access lawyer and doctor they are entitled to.

For his part, Wilnor Papa of the Amnesty International-Philippines said, “the COVID 19 pandemic places us in an unprecedented situation that needs strong commitments and actions from the Philippine government and other stakeholders to respect fundamental rights and freedom particularly the right not to be tortured in this time of crisis.”

On Friday, UATC-Philippines, a broad network of human rights organizations and human rights defenders, together with its partners including In Defense of Human Rights and Dignity Movement (iDEFEND), Philippine Alliance of Human Rights Advocates (PAHRA), World Organization Against Torture (OMCT), and the Commission on Human Rights of the Philippines (CHRP) joined the world in commemorating the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture and in contributing to the campaign for the absolute prohibition of torture in all corners of the world. —LBG, GMA News