In the Philippines, Telling the Truth is a Challenge
This interview is part of the United Against Torture Consortium’s Voices for Human Dignity multimedia initiative. This initiative celebrates the 40th anniversary of the Convention against Torture (1984-2024) by giving a voice to torture victims, experts, and activists.
In the Philippines, telling the truth is really a challenge,” says Doctor Benito Molino, an independent forensic expert who has been documenting and treating survivors of torture in the Philippines since the 1980s.
Speaking about the practices of his country's anti-drug campaign, he adds: “The government rewards police who make more arrests, so lying and misinterpreting the evidence becomes ever more common. But photographs, bones—they never lie.”
Over his long career, Dr. Molino has examined thousands of people detained by the police or military, assessing physical evidence and conducting psychological examinations with survivors to provide a clinical opinion on the likelihood of torture and other ill-treatment.
“As long as there are victims of human rights violations and I can continue to document, I will. We can’t allow these kinds of injustices to harm people. If we do not document it, then who will?
This content was produced by the #UnitedAgainstTorture Consortium (OMCT, IRCT, FIACT, APT, OMEGA and REDRESS), funded by the EU. The contents are the sole responsibility of UATC and do not necessarily reflect the position of the EU.
