3,000 AFP, PNP personnel face human rights raps

More than 3,000 military and police personnel have been accused of human rights violations since 2005, with a “very dismal” rate of conviction.

Figures from the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) show that from 2005 to July 2009, a total of 3,196 members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) had been the subject of cases of alleged human rights violations filed with the commission. Of the number, 2,408 were policemen and 788 were military personnel.

Human Rights Commissioner Loretta Ann Rosales said that the average rate of conviction was 16 percent, which she described as “very dismal.”

The biggest number of PNP respondents was registered at the National Capital Region, with 756 policemen figuring in various cases of human rights violations. This was followed by Region VI (Western Visayas) with 254 policemen, and Region IX (Zamboanga Peninsula) with 241.

For the Armed Forces, the biggest number of personnel facing complaints of human rights abuse was in Region XIII (Eastern Visayas), with a total of 129.  This was followed by Region IX (Zamboanga Peninsula) with 101 Armed Forces personnel cited in complaints, and by Region XI (Davao) with 96.

Compared to 2005, there were fewer PNP and Armed Forces personnel who figured in human rights violation complaints in 2008.
But the numbers are actually fluctuating. From 765 police and military respondents in 2005, the number rose to 846 in 2006, went down to 575 in 2007, and went up again to 624 in 2008. By mid-2009, 386 members of both forces figured in alleged human rights violations.

The PNP has about 130,000 members while the Armed Forces has 113,500 active officers and 131,000 reser vists.

The CHR has about 700 staffers, most of them clerical, spread out in various regions. Indicating that the commission does not have enough resources to deal with the many cases filed with it, Rosales bemoaned the slashing of the commission’s budget from P306 million this year to just P285 million next year.

“This means our investigators will have to dip into their own pockets for transportation to investigate cases,” she said, especially when they have to go to far-flung areas.  She added that she had to persuade Budget Secretary Butch Abad to restore the cut.

“The P306 million was never enough to begin with,” Rosales said. The investigation process in human rights cases involves forensic, technical and legal services.

Rosales also said that the military and police need to “restructure their thinking and consciousness” with regard to human rights issues.

“The AFP has long looked at human rights as an issue of the Left, which is an enemy,” she said.
But changes may be taking place in the military and police forces.

“I saw the radical transformation of the police in the Bondoc Peninsula,” she said, where the CHR conducted a nine-month human rights training through its Building Bridges for Peace program.

Rosales said that the military has also assured her that it will give human rights training to all its battalions. The Armed Forces has said that it has a manual on human rights, which it is distributing to its various services.

Beyond the Armed Forces and PNP, Rosales said that there is a need to take a holistic view of human rights in order to promote its
observance and prevent violations. Human rights, she said, must become a mainstream issue and not be regarded as the concern of civil-society organizations alone.

“We must address governance and social accountability,” she said.

In addition, Rosales said, “We envision a strong and independent CHR” which must have indisputable authority over human rights issues just like the Commission on Audit’s authority over auditing matters in government.

She said that the CHR must professionalize its ranks and set institutional performance evaluation and targets. At the same time, it must tap technical experts who are committed to the advancement of human rights.

VERA Files is put out by veteran journalists taking a deeper look at current issues. Vera is Latin for “true.” –Chit Estella, VERA Files, Manila Times