State use of torture under Gloria ‘routine’—UN body

The United Nations (UN) has again flayed the Arroyo administration’s dismal human rights record after the UN Committee against Torture (UNCAT) expressed grave concern at the “routine and widespread use of torture” in the country and the “climate of impunity for perpetrators of acts of torture, including military, police, and other state officials.”

In its 12-page report on the Philippines, the UNCAT noted the use of torture and ill-treatment of suspects in police custody, especially to extract confessions or information to be used in criminal proceedings.

The UN committee is also alarmed at the alleged involvement of government officials holding senior positions who are said “to have planned, commanded or perpetrated acts of torture.”

It lamented that the police and military who allegedly commit torture are seldom investigated and prosecuted.

“The perpetrators are either rarely convicted or sentenced to lenient penalties that are not in accordance with the grave nature of their crimes,” the committee said as it pointed out the lack of law against torture in the Philippines.

President Arroyo had sent Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita during the UNCAT’s assessment of the country’s compliance with commitments to the UN body last April 28.

Ermita, also chairman of the Presidential Human Rights Committee, reasoned there were many political issues holding up the passage of the Anti-Torture Bill before Congress for 10 years now.

Felice Gaer, the UN committee expert serving as rapporteur for the report of the Philippines, had said

she was not satisfied with the replies concerning the delays in adopting the anti-torture bill. She noted that the Philippines had managed to enact other legislation in the meantime, including the anti-terrorism law.

Gaer said she wanted to hear what the executive was doing to prioritize the passage of the Anti-Torture Law.

She also expressed concern that the Commission on Human Rights did not have the authority to independently investigate the allegations of torture, disappearances and extra-judicial killings, and she wanted to know what was being done to address that.

Xuexian Wang, the committee expert serving as co-rapporteur for the report of the Philippines, pointed out that when he questioned the lengthy pre-trial detention, or an average of three years, he was merely concerned that the lengthy period of time increased the risk of torture occurring.

Wang also expressed concern that independent bodies had not been allowed to visit certain detention facilities, notably military detention centers.

The committee also urged Manila to ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (OPCat) “as soon as possible” to allow the UN and other international and national bodies access to places of detention and check on reports of cruel, inhumane anad degrading treatment of detained persons.

The UNCAT mandates each state party to take effective legislative, administrative, judicial or other measures to prevent acts of torture in any territory under its jurisdiction.

Although the total number of killing has declined significantly in the last two years, the committee said killings as well as forced disappearances continue.

It also cited the numerous documented reports of harassment and violence against human rights defenders.

While hundreds of activists, trade unionists, journalists and religious leaders in the Philippines have been killed or abducted since 2001, the Arroyo government continues to deny any involvement of the country’s security forces and the military in the killings, despite evidence presented by the UN and other international human rights watchdogs.

The UN body’s tirade reflects the strong concern made by UN Special Rapporteur Philip Alston over the human rights conditions in the country when he visited the Philippines in 2007. After a fact-finding mission, Alston issued a report that blamed members of the military for many killings and disapperances of left-wing activists.

Arroyo’s government then disputed Alston’s findings, saying it did not reflect the true conditions in the country.

The UNCAT monitors the compliance of state parties to the 1984 Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, INhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. As a state party to the Convention, the Philippines presented its second periodic report, April 28 to 29 to the UN body’s 42nd session in Geneva, Switzerland.

UNCAT “regrets” the Philippines’ second periodic report, which was submitted 16 years late, “lacks statistical information and practical information on the implementation of the provisions of the Convention and relevant domestic legislation.” –Michaela P. del Callar, Daily Tribune