Torture remains as a
means by which government security forces in the Philippines extract
information from suspects, despite the existence of a law against it, human
rights group Karapatan said Monday, the eve of the International Day in Support
of Victims of Torture.
“The use of torture
remains routine for state security forces,” Karapatan secretary general
Cristina Palabay said, citing as an example political prisoners who have been
“subjected to such cruel, inhuman and degrading acts, done by the police or the
military for purposes of humiliating them and breaking their spirit.”
The country has Republic
Act 9745 or the Anti-Torture Law enacted in 2009. It is also a signatory to the
United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading
Treatment or Punishment.
Palabay claimed that
notwithstanding time-held principles that instruments of the state supposedly
“have the primary mandate to uphold, protect and promote human
rights,” they are the same people who readily commit violations.
Worse, torturers have
successfully evaded prosecution, according to Palabay.
“This day is a reminder
of how far the Philippines is from being a torture-free country where
perpetrators are punished and people’s rights are truly respected and upheld,”
she said.
Palabay cited the recent
cases of peace consultant Ferdinand Castillo and peasant organizer Rommel
Tucay, political prisoners arrested and allegedly tortured under the Duterte
administration.
Castillo was arrested by
police officers of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group and agents of
the Intelligence Service of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP) last
Feb. 12. He was allegedly shoved inside a vehicle and blindfolded, his mouth
covered and was later strangled, according to Karapatan.
“He was kept blindfolded
for around four hours and was subsequently interrogated, with his captors
explicitly saying he has no rights and is in no position to demand for legal
counsel or any of the rights that should be accorded to detained
persons,” Palabay said, adding that during the supposed interrogation,
Castillo and his family’s lives were also threatened.
Tucay, on the other
hand, was arrested by elements of the Philippine Army’s 73rd Infantry Brigade
and the 56th IB last March 22.
During his arrest, Tucay
was allegedly tied and repeatedly beaten and kicked. He was later blindfolded
using a towel and masking tape before he was dragged toward a vehicle, Palabay
said, citing Karapatan’s documentations
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