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Lorenzana questions US State Dept. report on ‘abuses’ by Philippine security forces


Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana on Friday questioned the recent US State Department report which affirmed the credibility of alleged abuses  committed by Philippine security forces.

“But since the State Department seems so sure of its facts we challenge it to provide us with details so our [Commission on Human Rights], a constitutional and independent body, can verify them, and if proven accurate, the perpetrators will be punished,” Lorenzana said in a statement.

He pointed out that without data, the accusations were just innuendo and a witch-hunt, as he speculated that the US State Department might have been a victim of black propaganda.

Amid the criticism against the security forces, Lorenzana noted that the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) has been acknowledged as the most trusted agency of the government.

“Surely it did not earn this [trust] by abusing people,” he said.

In its 2021 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices released Tuesday, the US State Department found reports on human rights abuses allegedly committed by Philippine security forces "credible."

Among the "significant" human rights issues in the Philippines mentioned in the report were:

  • unlawful or arbitrary killings, including extrajudicial killings, by and on behalf of the government and nonstate actors;
  • reports of forced disappearance by and on behalf of the government and nonstate actors;
  • torture by and on behalf of the government and nonstate actors;
  • harsh and life-threatening prison conditions;
  • arbitrary detention by and on behalf of the government and nonstate actors;
  • serious problems with the independence of the judiciary;
  • high-level and widespread government corruption;
  • serious government restrictions on or harassment of domestic human rights organizations

Some charges in connection with these abuses were often “leveled for political reasons,” according to the US State Department. — DVM, GMA News

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