Open Letter to Senate President: Senator Vicente C. Sotto III, 18th Congress, Senate of the Philippines

Via email:

Geneva, 31July 2019

Re: Appeal Letter on the Minimum Ageof Criminal Responsibility

Dear Senator Vicente C. SottoIII,

The WorldOrganization Against Torture (OMCT), the leading global network of civilsociety organizations against torture, summary executions, enforceddisappearances and all other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment orpunishment in the world, in partnership with Children’s Legal Rights andDevelopment Center (CLRDC), a Philippines-based NGO working for the promotionof child’s rights, interest and welfare, are writing to express their graveconcern about the refiling of a Senate Bill, on 1st of July 2019, which seeks tolower the Minimum Age of Criminal Responsibility (MACR) to “above nine yearsold” (Senate Bill No. 5).

Thisfollows the alarming approval by House of Representatives last January of anamendment seeking to lower the Minimum Age of Criminal Responsibility to 12years old.

Internationalhuman rights bodies have repeatedly encouraged the Philippines to not lower theminimum age of criminal responsibility currently set at 15 years old. TheUnited Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child specifically urged thePhilippines to “take all necessary measures to ensure that the age of criminalresponsibility is not lowered”.[1]Commenting onthe previous an draft Bill No. 922, rejected in early 2016, which sought tolower the minimum age of criminal responsibility to nine years old, the United Nations Committee against Torture recommended that “the age of criminalresponsibility be maintained at the age of 15 years.”[2]

There is ample evidence showing that early contact with the justicesystem and detention of children, especially young children, leads to seriousand life-long negative impacts on their mental, emotional and physical healthand development.

Lowering the minimum age of criminal responsibility will not reducecrime. On the contrary, research show that children in contact with the lawhave a higher chance of further involvement with the justice system. In addition, it is often the mostdisadvantaged and vulnerable children who come in contact with the justicesystem at a very young age. For instance, in 2018, the monitoring of holdingcenters of Caloocan City by the OMCT and partners showed that around 20% ofchildren are detained because they have been rescued from the street or abusiveparents. Another 30% are accused of having only committed minor offences.[3]

The approval of the proposed bill would alsoworsen the seriously overcrowded detention facilities throughout thePhilippines, conditions which frequently amount to torture or other cruel,inhuman or degrading treatment.[4]

During prison visits,the OMCT and its partners have documented several incidents of corporalpunishment of children while being apprehended and detained. This includedphysical and verbal abuse by staff as well as solitary confinement in smallwindowless cells. Visits also revealed poor sanitary installations, lack ofmedical services, lack of food and inadequate recreational activities.[5]

Accordingly, the World Organization Against Torture and Children’s LegalRights and Development Center, respectively, respectfully urges the Senate ofthe Philippines:

- To maintain the minimum age of criminal responsibility at 15 years old.

- To ensure that deprivation ofliberty is only used as a measure of last resort, as recommended by the UnitedNations Special Rapporteur on torture and other cruel, inhuman or degradingtreatment or punishment.

- To “Expand the use of alternativemeasures to deprivation of liberty, such as diversion, probation andcounselling and community services”, as recommended by the United NationsCommittee on the Rights of the Child.

- To ensure that the fundamentalrights of children in detention are respected in accordance with the UnitedNations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or DegradingTreatment or Punishment and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of theChild.

In the hope that theconcerns expressed in this letter will receive the attention they deserve, weremain at your disposal for any further information.

Yours sincerely,

Gerald Staberock
Secretary General

OMCT

[1] CRC/C/PHL/CO/3-4.

[2] CAT/C/PHL/CO/3.

[3] OMCT, CLRDC andPAHRA’s Follow-up Report to the Concluding Observations of the Committeeagainst Torture on the Philippines’ Third Periodic Report.

[4] Accordingto official figures from the Commission of Audit the overcrowding of prisons hasreached over 600 %.

[5] OMCT, CLRDC and PAHRA’s Follow-up Reportto the Concluding Observations of the Committee against Torture on thePhilippines’ Third Periodic Report. @font-face { font-family: Courier;}@font-face { font-family: Wingdings;}@font-face { font-family: "Cambria Math";}@font-face { font-family: Calibri;}@font-face { font-family: "Arial Unicode MS";}@font-face { font-family: "Arial Narrow";}@font-face { font-family: Georgia;}@font-face { font-family: "@Arial Unicode MS";}p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Courier; }p.MsoFootnoteText, li.MsoFootnoteText, div.MsoFootnoteText { margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; font-size: 10pt; font-family: "Calibri", sans-serif; }span.MsoFootnoteReference { vertical-align: super; }p { margin-right: 0cm; margin-left: 0cm; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Arial Unicode MS", sans-serif; }p.MsoListParagraph, li.MsoListParagraph, div.MsoListParagraph { margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 36pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Courier New"; }p.MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst, li.MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst, div.MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst { margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 36pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Courier New"; }p.MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle, li.MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle, div.MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle { margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 36pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Courier New"; }p.MsoListParagraphCxSpLast, li.MsoListParagraphCxSpLast, div.MsoListParagraphCxSpLast { margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 36pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: "Courier New"; }p.En-tt, li.En-tt, div.En-tt { margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Courier; }p.Piedd, li.Piedd, div.Piedd { margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: Courier; }span.widgetstatebox--additionalinfo { }span.FootnoteTextChar { font-family: "Calibri", sans-serif; }.MsoChpDefault { font-size: 10pt; }div.WordSection1 { }ol { margin-bottom: 0cm; }ul { margin-bottom: 0cm; }