Government Fails to Implement Anti-Torture Law

11November 2019

Philippines Government Fails to Implement Anti-Torture Law

Tenyears have passed since the passage of the landmark legislation prohibiting theact of torture in the Philippines. However, torture still persists in thecountry with total impunity.

InNovember 2009, the Philippines enacted the Republic Act (RA) No. 9745 otherwiseknown as the Anti-Torture Law which criminalizes torture and ill treatment andprovides procedural safeguards of persons deprived of their liberty such as butnot limited to their rights to notify relatives about the detention, to beexamined by an independent medical professionals and to have prompt access to alawyer throughout the investigation, pre-trial detention and trial. The lawalso guarantees that there should be no secret, unofficial or incommunicadodetention where torture usually occurs. The law provides criminal sanctions forits violations which include higher authorities for command responsibility.

TheAnti-Torture Law of 2009 is regarded as a positive law criminalizing torturebeing the first of its kind in Southeast Asia, Ten years after adoption of theAnti-Torture Law, the challenges faced by human rights organizations andsurvivors of torture and their relatives in seeking redress from acts oftorture and ill treatment remain problematic.

Anygood law is useless without its proper implementation. Many problems especiallyin the aspect of the criminal justice system render the law ineffective withthe prolonged pre-trial detention, confessions extracted under duress, lack ofprompt medical examination and access to a lawyer, reprisals and intimidationof torture survivors and witnesses; and lack of rehabilitation program fortorture survivors and their families.

Theinvestigation of torture allegations only resulted to dead end and perpetuatefurther the torture impunity such as the torture cases in 2010 of DariusEvangelista, Ronel Cabais, Lenin Salas et al. and in 2011, the torture case ofAbdul-Khan Balinting Ajid, which the authorities failed to properly investigatethe torture cases and prosecute effectively the alleged perpetrators. JeremyCorre's case remains as the only torture case filed in court and prosecutedunder the Anti-Torture Law where a police officer was convicted for the act oftorture.

Withthe war on drugs campaign of the Duterte government that have claimed more than 20,000 lives and the Martial Law in Mindanao and the ongoing anti-terrorismcampaign, torture and other forms of grave human rights violations suchextrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances are feared to continue underthe climate of impunity and fear.

Todayas we commemorate the 10th yearof the enactment of the Anti-torture law, we, the United Against TortureCoalition (UATC), the broadest network of civil society working on tortureprevention in the Philippines, call on the Philippine government to comply withits state obligations under the UN Convention Against Torture and to implementthe Republic Act 9745.

Wespecifically urge the authorities to:

• Immediatelyrequest the CHRP Chairperson to convene the Oversight Committee in charge ofoverseeing the Implementation of the Anti-Torture Law. Such Committee shouldestablish a database to systematically collect information on theimplementation of the Anti-Torture Law including on investigations,prosecutions, access to medical evaluations, acts of reprisals, implementationof the rehabilitation program and the submission of inventory of all detentioncentres and facilities under the jurisdiction of the Philippine National Policeand the Armed Forced of the Philippines (AFP);

• Takemeasures to promote compliance with the Anti-Torture Law through education ofall government agencies and, military and law enforcement units on the law andtorture prevention measures;

• Adoptnecessary measures to ensure that all persons who allege or otherwise showindications of having been tortured or ill-treated are offered a prompt,thorough, impartial and independent medical examination. These include but arenot limited to: ensuring adequate protection of health professionalsdocumenting torture and ill treatment from intimidation and other forms ofreprisals; and ensuring that health professionals are able to examine victimsindependently and to maintain the confidentiality of medical records; and

• Enactmentof establishment of the National Preventive Mechanism (NPM) which in accordancewith the Optional Protocol Against Torture (OPCAT) which the Philippines is aState Party.

Weassert that torture has no place in a democratic and free society.

Weinsist that nothing can justify torture.

Agovernment that allows torture is a government that has no value to human lifeand dignity.

Wewill therefore continue to defend our rights to be free from torture.