United Nations experts express concern over torture of children in secret detention facilities and lowering age of criminal responsibility
Geneva, 18 May 2016 (OMCT) – TheUN Committee Against Torture (UNCAT) urged the Philippines to immediately closeall “secret places” of detention where people, including children, are routinely subjectto torture. It also called for the age of criminal responsibility to be kept at15 years of age, urging the Government to drop a bill aimed at lowering it.
The UNCAT,a group of humanrights experts in charge of assessingcountries’ application of the Convention Against Torture, last Friday announcedits concluding observations with regard to the Philippines’ over the last seven years. It expressed concernabout children deprived of liberty in unofficial detention centres. The World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) hadbeforehand submitted a report to the UNCAT providingevidence of the existence of a “secretfacility” run by the Malabon Bayan Police, in Metro Manila, where children – someof whom had not even committed crimes, or only minor non-violent offenses – hadbeen electrocuted, heavily beaten, and arbitrarily detained for lengthy periods.
“Inan interview in March 2016, a child who had been held incommunicado and thentortured during interrogation, described his cell as “totally dark, the size ofa refrigerator and heavily locked with steel bars,” said Carolina Barbara,coordinator of OMCT’s child rights programme. “What’s more, children and theirfamilies are often afraid of presenting charges and frequently threatened bypolice officers.”
During the UNCAT review, which took place from 27and 28 April 2016, the Filipino Government committed to a full investigation ofthe secret places of detention in Malabon city. This news comes in a context inwhich the Philippines increasingly wants to consider children as adults: a bill is currently in Congress aims to lower the age of criminal responsibility to nine years of age from15. The UNCAT also strongly criticized the bill, recommending its immediatewithdrawal.
The UNCAT experts also denounced the dangerousconditions in which children in conflict with the law are kept in official“holding centers”, such as the Yaka Bata Holding and Manila Youth centres, inManila Metro Area. These pose severe, long-lasting physical as well as mentalhealth hazards, and expert Sapana Pradhan-Malla during the review sessioncalled for their “improvement or closure”.
Human rights compliance in questionunder new Filipino Government
Since this UN review, the Philippines has elected anew President, Rodrigo Duterte, who has indeed made public statements at oddswith UNCAT recommendations, generating concern among human rights activistsabout the future compliance of the country with international human rightscommitments, including the UN Convention Against Torture.
Lowering the age of criminalliability is against international standards and not seen as an effectivemeasure to reduce criminality by most experts. Worse, it is believed it canonly increase over-crowdedness and the risk of children being tortured.
TheUNCAT during the session also highlighted the routine impunity in the country,which counts only one conviction for torture, in spite of a six-year-oldAnti-torture Act.
TheFilipino Government, which became a party to the Convention in 1986, has oneyear to report to the UNCAT on actions it will take to address the issues ofpre-trial detention, overcrowding in prisons, torture and ill-treatment andsteps taken to close all “secret places” of detention.
For further information: Carolina Bárbara, OMCT Child Rights Coordinator, cb@omct.org,+41 228 0949 38. For the pdf version click here: Philippines Press Release-Committee Against Torture.