Rights groups urge Aquino to order elimination of all forms of torture
February 25, 2012
On the 26th anniversary of the 1986 EDSA People Power uprising, human rights groups on Saturday urged President Benigno Aquino III to announce a policy of “total elimination” of the vestiges of Martial Law.
The United Against Torture Coalition (UATC)-Philippines made the call, noting that despite Republic Act 9745 (or the law that criminalizes torture), reports on cases of torture being routinely practiced by authorities on arrested suspects are still piling up.
For his part, Ernesto A. Anasarias, executive director of Balay Rehabilitation Center and currently the head of UATC Secretariat, said authorties' "partial" compliance with the law has given rise to "institutional impunity" we have in the country.
“The persistence of torture casts doubts on the effectiveness of the law. Legal safeguards for arrested suspects and detainees are insufficient..., highlighted by failure to bring them promptly before a judicial authority, restricted access to lawyers and medical doctors, and failure to contact family member immediately after their arrest,” Anasarias added.
{Blog about torture, enforced disappearance, EJK and human rights}
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Human rights groups urges Aquino “Tuldukan na ang tortyur’! Announce policy of total elimination of torture
Press release
February 25, 2012
Human rights groups urges Aquino “Tuldukan na ang tortyur’! Announce policy of total elimination of torture
As the country marks the 26th anniversary of the 1986 EDSA “People Power”, several human rights groups called on the Aquino administration to take all necessary measures to announce a policy of “total elimination” of the vestiges of Martial Law.
While the Anti-Torture Act or Republic Act (RA) No. 9745 is enacted to criminalize the acts of torture, the United Against Torture Coalition (UATC)-Philippines, made the call noting there are reports cases of torture being routinely practiced by authorities against suspects despite the law criminalizing such act.
In its statement, Ernesto A. Anasarias, Executive Director of Balay Rehabilitation Center and currently the head of UATC Secretariat, said “the authorities’ partiality not to comply with the law runs in the ‘institutional impunity’ we have right now.”
“The persistence of torture casts doubts on the effectiveness of the law. Despite the law, in practice, there are insufficient legal safeguards for arrested suspects and detainees, including among others, failure to bring them promptly before a judicial authority, restricted access to lawyers and medical doctors, and failure to contact family member immediately after their arrest,” Anasarias added.
Edeliza P. Hernandez of the Medical Action Group (MAG) likewise claimed the government seems to be dragging their heels on the investigation of torture cases. No member of the police and military has been arrested for alleged torture case since Aquino took office, and no superiors have been put on trial for their suspected involvement in or acquiescence to the alleged acts of torture.
February 25, 2012
Human rights groups urges Aquino “Tuldukan na ang tortyur’! Announce policy of total elimination of torture
As the country marks the 26th anniversary of the 1986 EDSA “People Power”, several human rights groups called on the Aquino administration to take all necessary measures to announce a policy of “total elimination” of the vestiges of Martial Law.
In its statement, Ernesto A. Anasarias, Executive Director of Balay Rehabilitation Center and currently the head of UATC Secretariat, said “the authorities’ partiality not to comply with the law runs in the ‘institutional impunity’ we have right now.”
“The persistence of torture casts doubts on the effectiveness of the law. Despite the law, in practice, there are insufficient legal safeguards for arrested suspects and detainees, including among others, failure to bring them promptly before a judicial authority, restricted access to lawyers and medical doctors, and failure to contact family member immediately after their arrest,” Anasarias added.
Edeliza P. Hernandez of the Medical Action Group (MAG) likewise claimed the government seems to be dragging their heels on the investigation of torture cases. No member of the police and military has been arrested for alleged torture case since Aquino took office, and no superiors have been put on trial for their suspected involvement in or acquiescence to the alleged acts of torture.
Sunday, February 12, 2012
Parents dare Palparan: Face us -INQUIRER.net
Parents dare Palparan: Face us
By Carmela Reyes-Estrope, Inquirer Central Luzon
February 12, 2012
The families of missing University of the Philippines students Sherlyn Cadapan and Karen Empeño dared fugitive retired general Jovito Palparan to turn himself in and face them.
They want to confront Palparan about a statement he made through his lawyer on Friday saying that he would not surrender because the missing students were still alive.
The two students have been missing since 2006.
Lawyer Edre Olalia, counsel of the Cadapan and Empeño families, said Palparan should “stop putting [his own] lawyers on the spot… [by making them] trifle with the emotions of suffering mothers [when they issue] recklessly bare claims that their young and abused daughters are still alive.”
Palparan’s lawyer, Jesus Santos, wrote the National Bureau of Investigation on Feb. 1 to say that the missing students were alive.
Palparan’s statement also said that the fugitive retired major general would “try [his] best not to surrender since the filing of the cases against [him] was done illegally.”
Read complete story @ newsinfo.inquirer.net
By Carmela Reyes-Estrope, Inquirer Central Luzon
February 12, 2012
They want to confront Palparan about a statement he made through his lawyer on Friday saying that he would not surrender because the missing students were still alive.
The two students have been missing since 2006.
Lawyer Edre Olalia, counsel of the Cadapan and Empeño families, said Palparan should “stop putting [his own] lawyers on the spot… [by making them] trifle with the emotions of suffering mothers [when they issue] recklessly bare claims that their young and abused daughters are still alive.”
Palparan’s lawyer, Jesus Santos, wrote the National Bureau of Investigation on Feb. 1 to say that the missing students were alive.
Palparan’s statement also said that the fugitive retired major general would “try [his] best not to surrender since the filing of the cases against [him] was done illegally.”
Read complete story @ newsinfo.inquirer.net
Struggle for a larger freedom of information
STRUGGLE FOR
A LARGER FREEDOM OF INFORMATION
February 10, 2012
The Philippine Alliance of Human Rights Advocates (PAHRA) welcomes the initial gains of a convergent struggle towards a larger freedom of information.
PAHRA acknowledges the advances made so far in the proposed bill by the staunch supporters in the legislative branch, the contribution of and vital endorsement by President Benigno Aquino III as head of the executive branch as well as the unflagging campaign of civil society through the Coalition for Freedom of Information, Right Now!
We commend the concrete provisions that expand access to information, e.g. those pertaining to the submission of the Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALNs), to effectively prevent and prosecute graft and corruption among government officials as these adversely impact on the economic, social and cultural rights of people.
Nonetheless, full enjoyment of the right to information is still primarily a State obligation which the people must continuously demand and determinedly struggle for.
Soon, the Filipino people will be commemorating again the toppling of the Marcos Dictatorship which violated our fundamental freedoms and grossly violated our human rights with impunity. More than three decades have passed, government and military information on the thousands of victims of extrajudicial killings, massacres, enforced disappearances, torture and other gross human rights violations involving economic, social and cultural rights have been suppressed. Relatives still do not know what really happened to their loved ones and who are the perpetrators of these violations and crimes.
The officially turned-over martial law documents by the Intelligence Services of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP) to the Commission on Human Rights (CHR), in their present pace and diligence, while a welcome initiative, has still a long way to go to bring closure, much more to obtain justice for the victims and families of human rights violations. The President, as Chief Executive and Commander-in-Chief of the AFP, should order a fast, time-bound handing over of the rest of the identified 20, 000 files to the CHR.
Right to information is integral to combating impunity. The UN Updated Principles in Combating Impunity includes the right to truth. There are two aspects of this right: the first is the individual’s, as well as, the victim’s families and relatives right to know the circumstances and reasons for the victim’s torture, enforced disappearance or extrajudicial killing. The second is the collective aspect, wherein the nation should remember the tragedies that were consequent of the human rights violations. The obligation to preserve documents and other related evidences to the violations arise from the state’s duty. So is the obligation that public access is facilitated.
Thus, the proposed “Freedom of Information Act of 2012” must contain the provisions that records of official investigations of alleged gross human rights violations, particularly extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances and torture, must be preserved. Also, information of these same human rights violations should never ever be classified as exemptions to deny public access as are crimes and wrongdoings, graft or corruption. The excuse of “national security” should not be used to protect under its umbrage the perpetrators of human rights violations.
PAHRA calls on all those who fight for fundamental freedoms and human rights to lobby and obtain a law that advances towards a larger freedom of information.
PAHRA unites with all who struggles for the right to truth to combat and end graft, corruption and impunity.
A LARGER FREEDOM OF INFORMATION
February 10, 2012
PAHRA acknowledges the advances made so far in the proposed bill by the staunch supporters in the legislative branch, the contribution of and vital endorsement by President Benigno Aquino III as head of the executive branch as well as the unflagging campaign of civil society through the Coalition for Freedom of Information, Right Now!
We commend the concrete provisions that expand access to information, e.g. those pertaining to the submission of the Statement of Assets, Liabilities and Net Worth (SALNs), to effectively prevent and prosecute graft and corruption among government officials as these adversely impact on the economic, social and cultural rights of people.
Nonetheless, full enjoyment of the right to information is still primarily a State obligation which the people must continuously demand and determinedly struggle for.
Soon, the Filipino people will be commemorating again the toppling of the Marcos Dictatorship which violated our fundamental freedoms and grossly violated our human rights with impunity. More than three decades have passed, government and military information on the thousands of victims of extrajudicial killings, massacres, enforced disappearances, torture and other gross human rights violations involving economic, social and cultural rights have been suppressed. Relatives still do not know what really happened to their loved ones and who are the perpetrators of these violations and crimes.
The officially turned-over martial law documents by the Intelligence Services of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (ISAFP) to the Commission on Human Rights (CHR), in their present pace and diligence, while a welcome initiative, has still a long way to go to bring closure, much more to obtain justice for the victims and families of human rights violations. The President, as Chief Executive and Commander-in-Chief of the AFP, should order a fast, time-bound handing over of the rest of the identified 20, 000 files to the CHR.
Right to information is integral to combating impunity. The UN Updated Principles in Combating Impunity includes the right to truth. There are two aspects of this right: the first is the individual’s, as well as, the victim’s families and relatives right to know the circumstances and reasons for the victim’s torture, enforced disappearance or extrajudicial killing. The second is the collective aspect, wherein the nation should remember the tragedies that were consequent of the human rights violations. The obligation to preserve documents and other related evidences to the violations arise from the state’s duty. So is the obligation that public access is facilitated.
Thus, the proposed “Freedom of Information Act of 2012” must contain the provisions that records of official investigations of alleged gross human rights violations, particularly extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances and torture, must be preserved. Also, information of these same human rights violations should never ever be classified as exemptions to deny public access as are crimes and wrongdoings, graft or corruption. The excuse of “national security” should not be used to protect under its umbrage the perpetrators of human rights violations.
PAHRA calls on all those who fight for fundamental freedoms and human rights to lobby and obtain a law that advances towards a larger freedom of information.
PAHRA unites with all who struggles for the right to truth to combat and end graft, corruption and impunity.
Wednesday, February 8, 2012
Update: Senate approved on its second reading the Philippine accession to OPCAT
Members of UATC and PAHRA joined the delegation. Representatives from PAHRA, Balay, MAG, TFDP, FIND, AFAD were there. A representative from the ICRC was also there as another resolution pertaining to the Geneva Conventions was also approved by the senate.
We thank everyone who have been part of our advocacy efforts since we started with the OPCAT ratification campaign several years ago with the support of RCT and APT, and other partners like the IRCT, among others. We are almost there in our campaign. We’ll send another delegation to the senate next week. Let’s hope for the best.
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