Torture: A pervasive reality in the country

MANILA, Philippines - Judging by her looks, Beth (not her real name) had just barely passed her teens, but the tremble in her voice betrays the enormous amount of suffering and violence she has been through. Beth is a torture survivor. Torture not by gangs or crime syndicates, but by policemen. “I was arrested inside a bus. I was taken to the (police) precinct, and so were my two other girlfriends," Beth says in the vernacular, as she apologizes for having difficulty expressing herself in English. “They brought us to their dressing room. Once there, we were made to take off our shirts, although we still had our bras on," she adds. She says the officers hit her and her friends. "They even put our heads inside plastic bags." "The plastic would stick up our nose preventing air from getting in. When we tried to bite through the bag, [the policemen] would punch us on the mouth," Beth says. "This is where I got the chip on my tooth," she recalls. Much worse happened to the men in their community, including one whom Beth treated as her father (ama-amahan). “He was arrested and then salvaged (summarily executed)," Beth says. Ernesto Anasarias Jr, research and development coordinator of the Balay Rehabilitation Center that provided medical and legal assistance to Beth while she was in detention, says stories of mass arrests, torture and extra-judicial killings are not uncommon in Beth’s community where the police are known to conduct "saturation drives" in search of criminals. Anasarias says other cases handled by the group indicate that torture incidents are not isolated cases, but are common in many of the country’s jail and detention facilities. Torture victims, however, rarely come out in the open. “There is fear of police reprisal. There is also a belief among victims that the perpetrators will not be penalized anyway and the cost of bringing a case to court is high, so that victims are discouraged from reporting torture cases," Anasarias says. Dr. Renato Basas, a director at the Commission on Human Rights, says only four cases of torture in Metro Manila have been reported to the commission so far. In 2007, 18 cases of torture have been reported in Metro Manila; 37 cases in 2006; 26 cases in 2005; and 18 in 2004. “Maybe lack of awareness on one’s human rights, and the lack of awareness on where to report these cases contribute to this under-reporting of torture cases," Basas says. Despite few stories of torture figuring in national news and under-reporting of torture incidents with the CHR, the practice seems to remain pervasive. According to the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), not only does torture continues to be widely practiced in the Philippines but that its main perpetrators are law enforcement agents and members of the Armed Forces. In its fact-finding mission report “Terrorism and Human Rights in the Philippines: Fighting Terror or Terrorizing?" which was conducted in cooperation with the Philippine Alliance of Human Rights Advocates (PAHRA) and the International Rehabilitation Council for Torture Victims (IRCT), the group presented revealing findings on the situation in the country. The study says the practice of torture and ill-treatment is widely used by the military and law enforcement agencies against those suspected of being enemies of the state and is a regular practice in the process of arrest. “Testimonies collected by the FIDH mission confirm that torture occurs in most cases when the [AFP] and the law enforcement agencies arrest an individual suspected of rebellion or of being an ‘enemy of the State,’" the report states. “Some persons met by the mission pointed out to the responsibility of AFP or the Philippine National Police. Civilian auxiliaries under the control of the AFP are also accused of practicing torture," it adds. The mission report notes that the practice of torture continues to happen despite the country’s adoption of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT). In fact, there remains no law criminalizing torture in the country. “There is currently no law specifically penalizing acts of torture: criminal cases have to be filed against perpetrators of torture for crimes such as maltreatments; rape; murder if torture results in the death of the victim, etc," the report states. It adds: "This situation is contrary to the international commitments of the… Philippines under Article 7 of the ICCPR and the CAT." There is also no domestic law criminalizing enforced disappearances, the mission report notes. Basas says an anti-torture bill has been filed in the House of Representatives during the 13th Congress, but despite overcoming hurdles in the House, the Senate failed to act on the bill. “Now that the 13th Congress has adjourned, we have to re-file the bill again," Basas says. The fact-finding mission report also says the Human Security Act (HSA) or the local anti-terror law contains provisions that create an environment that increases the risk of human rights violations – including torture – being committed against detained suspects. The new law expands the law enforcers’ powers of arrest and detention, increasing the chance of torture being inflicted on victims, the report points out. The fact-finding mission “seriously doubts" that the mechanisms and initiatives reportedly put in place by the Armed Forces to ensure respect for human rights will work. To address the phenomenon of torture in the country, the FIDH mission says the government should: - Release all persons arbitrarily detained or to “bring charges against them and produce them before a court of law;" - Stop using civilian auxiliaries of the AFP in the fight against terrorism and, as a minimum and immediate step, ensure that they are properly trained in the field of human rights and prevention of torture; - End arbitrary labeling of groups as terrorists or enemies of the State without affording them the opportunity to challenge such assertions before the court; - Seriously investigate all allegations of extra-judicial killings, torture and enforced disappearances involving law enforces and military personnel; - Criminalize torture; - Amend the HAS in conformance with the Philippines’ international human rights commitments; - Ensure the inadmissibility in court of confessions obtained under duress; - Compensate torture victims; - Improve the government witness protection program; and - Fulfill commitments to ICCPR and CAT. Aside from these recommendations, Amnesty International-Pilipinas Executive Director Aurora Parong says the government should also ratify the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention Against Torture (OPCAT), which is regarded as the most important development for the effective prevention of torture in the global arena. “There’s no ifs and buts when it comes to torture. Torture is never acceptable, both during wartime and peacetime... This is one of every person’s non-derogable rights, one of the very basic human rights," Parong says. - GMANews.TV