Philippine Senate consummates Philippine adhesion to novel treaty for torture prevention-CHR

Philippine Senate consummates Philippine adhesion to novel treaty for torture prevention; the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (OPCAT)

The Philippine Senate ratified the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (OPCAT)  on the 6th of March 2012, and if deposit to the United Nations by government is prompt, the country will become the 63rd state party to the UN treaty. 22 out of 23 Senators were present and unanimously voted in favor of the OPCAT binding the Philippines to a system of regular visits to places of deprivation of liberty for torture prevention.

Had this good instrument been put in place earlier, many torture and ill-treatment incidents in places of detention may have been prevented including the Tondo Asuncion Community precinct torture allegedly committed principally by Senior Inspector Joselito Binayug., the July 26, 2011 torture of the Basilan baker while in the custody of the Special Operations Task Force-Basilan, and the August 3, 2010 police torture of Lenin Salas and four others in Pampanga province.

Persons deprived of their liberty and custodial and correctional authorities in the Philippines have long been contending with dehumanizing conditions in places of deprivation of liberty where over-congestion, ill-treatment and the inconsistency between the underhanded jail sub-culture and official custodial policies are commonplace.

Since places of detention are closed to the outside world, persons deprived of their liberty are vulnerable to and at risk of torture, other forms of ill-treatment, and other human rights violations. Respect for detainees’ rights as well as the satisfaction of their most basic needs solely depends upon custodial authorities. Abuses can arise from a variety of reasons such as negligence, lack of resources, poor or inappropriate staff training, and inadequate systems of oversight.  Without independent external monitoring, these abuses can occur unchallenged. The OPCAT will ensure that these otherwise obscure places will now be more open so that less and less abuse will take place.

The OPCAT establishes two preventive mechanisms, one visiting body at the international level called the Sub-committee on prevention of Torture (SPT) and another at the national level called the National Preventive Mechanism (NPM). These two bodies will be composed of independent experts in fields relevant to the treatment of individuals deprived of their liberty and will undertake regular unannounced visits to places of deprivation of liberty such as but not limited to
police stations, barangay holding centers, city, municipal and provincial jails, national penitentiaries, immigration centers, military detention facilities, juvenile homes, psychiatric institutions and drug rehabilitation centers. Through this system of visits, these international and local experts shall make recommendations to relevant authorities on improving domestic prevention measures for their subsequent implementation.

Hence, as a state party to the OPCAT, the Philippine government will have two main obligations. The first is to establish the National Preventive Mechanism, the local visiting expert body, within a year from now as per part IV article 17 of the protocol. The second is to recognize the authority of the Sub-committee on Prevention of Torture
to conduct in-country visits to places of deprivation of liberty.

The Philippine Government has chosen to invoke its right under the OPCAT part V article 24 to make a declaration to opt out of this second obligation for the next three years. This only means that it has postponed the possibility of in-country visits by the SPT until March 2015.

What sets the OPCAT apart from other treaties is that it emphasizes cooperation, not condemnation. Unlike other treaties, it is an operational instrument rather than a standard-setting one. Rather than reacting once violations have occurred, the OPCAT sets up a proactive system of visits to prevent violations from happening in the first
place. Furthermore, the treaty unites international and local prevention efforts by prescribing a complementary relationship between the NPM and SPT. Both expert bodies are expected to:

1.    Conduct regular visits to places of detention in order to improve the treatment and conditions of persons deprived of their liberty and the administration of places of detention in order to prevent torture and ill-treatment,
2.    Propose recommendations to adopt preventive measures and to improve the system of deprivation of liberty, and
3.    Work constructively with States Parties in relation to implementing these recommendations.

The OPCAT will thus establish a triangular relationship between the Philippine Government, the NPM and the SPT. Aside from the collaborative efforts of the three, regular unannounced visits to places of detention, which is the most effective way in preventing torture as proven by practices elsewhere in the world, will effectively and consistently protect the rights of persons deprived of their liberty.

The Philippines has now completed its adhesion to the compendium of international instruments against torture, particularly the UN Convention Against Torture (UNCAT), the OPCAT’s mother treaty, and has a domestic law banning its use. Perseverance of government institutions and other stakeholders is important to ensure the effective implementation of this freedom from torture regimen.

Although persons deprived of their liberty and OPCAT advocates see this recent breakthrough as another milestone in torture prevention work, we remain far-off from making preventive visits work in the Philippines. Executive and Legislative political will and determination is necessary to operationalize the OPCAT. In order to do so, NPM enabling bills must be filed in both the Philippine Senate and the House of Representatives and vigorously pursued to ensure their enactment into law. Only then can this new institution be founded.

The Commission on Human Rights Philippines and the member organizations of the United Against Torture Coalition (UATC), through the stewardship of its steering committee member, BALAY Rehabilitation Center, Inc., are collectively inalizing an NPM enabling proposal. So far, the Office of Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago and the Office of Senator Loren Legarda, the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations Chairperson who sponsored the OPCAT’s passage, have signified their
interest to champion the NPM bill.

The Commission and the United Against Torture Coalition have for several years been working hand in hand with torture survivors, persons deprived of their liberty, and the diplomatic community in the Philippines to secure a Philippine OPCAT ratification as well as sustain discourse and drafting of the NPM enabling draft bill with the guidance and support of the Association for the Prevention of Torture (APT) and the Rehabilitation and Research Centre for Torture Victims (RCT), both international organizations promoting the right not to be tortured.

Certain information lifted from resource publications of the Association for the Prevention of Torture (APT)
www.apt.ch

Towards breaking culture of impunity, Senate ratifies OPCAT -Amnesty International -Philippines

Amnesty International welcomes the ratification of the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture (OPCAT) by the Philippine Senate today.

“Amnesty International campaigned the Philippines to ratify OPCAT since the time it was adopted by the United Nation General Assembly in 2002 together with the United Against Torture Coalition (UATC).  Today is another good day for human rights in the Philippines. We commend the Senators for ratifying OPCAT only half a year after the Rome Statute was concurred despite the ongoing Impeachment Trial at the Senate,” said Amnesty International Philippines Director, Dr. Aurora Parong.

The optional protocol was ratified with no objections or abstentions as reported by the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations.

“As of October 2011, OPCAT  has 71 signatories and 61 parties. The Philippines is the latest addition to this list. But this is only another step towards protection against torture. What’s need to be accomplished by the Aquino administration now is the setting up of a preventive mechanism that monitors all places of detention, inspects facilities and makes recommendations for the prevention of torture and other ill-treatment in the Philippines,” emphasized Dr. Parong.

Amnesty International explains that the OPCAT is designed to bring the State to actively engage in the prevention of torture. Its ratification in the Philippines will bring positive changes not only in its systems but practices and curb the culture of impunity in the country.

Press Release
6 March 2012
Maria Edilyd P. Orias
Program Coordinator
Media Communication and Publications
M: +63 999 628 2066
Amnesty International Philippines
18-A Marunong Street, Bgy. Central,
Quezon City, 1100, Philippines
T: +63 2 433 8100
E: section@amnesty.org.ph
W: www.amnesty.org.ph

Update: Senate approved on its second reading the Philippine accession to OPCAT

The senate today (February 8, 2012) approved on its second reading the Philippine accession to OPCAT. The process took only a few minutes as there was no objection or any further comment from the senators at all. The Secretary of the Committee on Foreign Relations said that the final reading is set to take place on Tuesday, February 14. We need at least 16 senators (2/3 of the entire senate) to finally approve the accession. We are almost there.

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.

The importance of the OPCAT and the role of doctors and other health professionals in preventative visits

Medical Action Group position paper on the Philippine ratification of the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture (OPCAT)
February 16, 2011

Presented at Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, February 16, 2011, public hearing on the “Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment”.

The importance of the OPCAT and the role of doctors and other health professionals in preventative visits

The Medical Action Group (MAG) is a health and human rights organizations which envisions a society where fundamental human rights are upheld at protected at all times in accordance with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). MAG is a member of the United Against Torture Coalition (UATC)-Philippines.

The right to reparation for victims of a wrongful act is a well-established principle of international law. This obligation also applies in respect to international human rights and humanitarian law. Rehabilitation is a very practical form of assistance for victims of torture. It is widely acknowledged, amongst those working in this field, within the human rights community, and amongst torture survivors themselves, that rehabilitation services are most effective when they combine a variety of multidisciplinary inputs: medical and psychological interventions, together with complementary psychosocial, legal and social services.

UATC Position Paper: Ratification and Implementation of the OPCAT

UATC Position Paper 
Ratification and Implementation of the OPCAT

We, the member organizations of the United Against Torture Coalition Philippines (UATC), a broad-based coalition of organizations and individuals that work together against the use of torture in the Philippines Declare and Assert the following in relation to the Philippines’ adhesion and implementation of the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture and other Cruel Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (OPCAT):

A straightforward system

The OPCAT establishes a system of regular visits to places where individuals are deprived of their liberty. This system employs two visiting bodies, one is the Sub-Committee for the Prevention of Torture (SPT), an international body that is composed of 10 experts and already conducting its work since January 1, 2007.  Two is the National Preventive Mechanism (NPM), which will be composed of suitably qualified independent experts that is to be set up by the state once it adheres to the OPCAT.

Basically, these bodies will conduct regular visits to places of detention. Subsequent to their visits, these bodies will submit their recommendations to relevant state authorities based on their observations, findings and assessment.  They shall then enter into a dialogue with relevant state authorities on the concerns. The state is then required to implement these recommendations in cooperation with these bodies.

This basic framework of operation, according to Article 4 of the Protocol aims to strengthen the protection of persons deprived of their liberty against torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.  This is an obligation the Philippine government has had since 18 June 1986. The OPCAT bodies’ approach is to provide useful, practical and expert advice, tailored to the state’s circumstances, and forms the basis for institutional reform.

Some positive developments in the advancement of the OPCAT:

Dear Friends,

Some positive developments in the advancement of the OPCAT:

The Philippine Senate, due to the insistence of Sen. Santiago that they continue their regular work on priority bills, has put internal discussions on hold. Yesterday, Sen. Santiago was able to introduce to the Senate plenary 3 out of the 5 treaties in the pipeline under the sponsorship of the Committee on Foreign Relations. The next two which she is poised to introduce is the OPCAT and the Japan-Philippines Technical Cooperation Treaty. The Department of Foreign Affairs has also transmitted a new priority list to the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations (a routine procedure between the DFA and the SCOFR) indicating three treaties which the executive has deemed important. The OPCAT is one of them.

These developments indicate that there is still a good chance the OPCAT will be approved within this congress. The UATC has already taken steps to respond to these opportunities. Aside from direct stakeholder interventions, our collective success will also depend on the political climate at the Senate.

For additional information on developments at the Philippine Senate, kindly refer to the link below:

www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=544524&publicationSubCategoryId=63&newsalert

Let us work and hope the best!

Budit

Ellecer Ebro Carlos
PDRP-STOV Team
BALAY Rehabilitation Center, Inc.

URL:www.balayph.net & www.opcatph.org

Santiago lauds gov’t agencies for supporting OPCAT

(Balita-dot-ph)

MANILA, Oct. 8 -– Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago lauded on Thursday the concerned government agencies for their ‘remarkable’ supports in the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture (OPCAT).

”It is remarkable that members of the military and law enforcement were unanimous in expressing support for this optional protocol to the convention against torture. This means that they are very educated on our constitution because this is no less than a constitutional provision,” Santiago said after the Senate committee on foreign relations public hearing on OPCAT.

Santiago explained that the optional protocol requires the country to observe international guidelines for the detention of prisoners.

”We can no longer push people in a very small compound and guard them at the rate of about one guard for every 40 prisoners, because the international standard is one guard for every seven prisoners,” Santiago said.

Santiago said she will sponsor the OPCAT which aims to build hundreds of jails around the country.

”Statistics show that there is simply unacceptable overcrowding in our jails. We are far below standard so that is why when we concur with the additional protocol, we will file a declaration of deferment, that is to say we will request the UN authority to give us three years so that we can upgrade our prison facilities before the subcommittee on torture will be able to come to our country any time at any place and make their visit,” Santiago stressed.

”Our penologists already know what the global standards are, and the mere intention to visit will already make them scramble to live up to the global standards,” she added.

Santiago said OPCAT was ratified by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in 2006.
The lady lawmaker said there was a working group to assimilate all the agencies concerned like local governments, Commission on Human Rights, the Presidential Commission on Human Rights, and other law enforcement agencies like the military, Bureau of Jail Management and Penology and immigration bureau that are empowered to detain prisoners.

Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) director general Dionisio Santiago assured that agency upholds human rights by treating each person with respect, justice and fairness.
”In the campaign against illegal drugs, the basic foundations must be the rule of law and respect for individual rights. Otherwise, we will be no different from drug trafficiers and criminals operating in our society,” the PDEA chief said.

For his part, BJMP chief Rosendo Dial supported the objective of Sen. Santiago to improve the living conditions of inmates throughout the country.

”Every person even those confined in jails has the right to live free from torture and other inhumane treatments. BJMP has always advocated for the protection and promotion of human rights,” Dial said in his opening statement.

”BJMP supports the OPCAT and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment,” he added.

Dial also said that BJMP is also sensitive to the rights and needs of women and children inmates that it has separated 50 dorms for women and two facilities for children in coordination of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).

Last year, the national government allotted P36.9 million for the BJMP for the construction of three regional offices, 11 new jail buildings, nine perimeter fences, 11 additional cells for male and female and other facilities such as visiting area and kitchens.

Dial said the BJMP needs P2.23 billion budget to address congestion of jails and eventually uplift the plight of the inmates in the country. (PNA)

OPCAT undergoes Public Hearing

OPCAT undergoes Public Hearing

The Committee/Public Hearing on the OPCAT finally took place this morning. Government agencies such the AFP, NBI, DOJ, PNP, BJMP and the DILG were present during the consultations. Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita led those who were present in behalf of government. He officially announced government plans to defer (declaration to opt-out) the Philippines' obligation to part IV of the OPCAT for 3 years upon adhesion to the instrument (4 years actually, since one year is already given to States to prepare for its implementation). Except for some government agencies which claimed minor inconsistencies between our constitution and the OPCAT (which were quickly debunked by the Committee on Foreign Relations Chairperson, Sen. Miriram Defensor Santiago), there were no objections to the OPCAT whatsoever (which surprised the Senator) and most government agencies and Executive Secretary Ermita even reaffirmed their approval and support for the instrument.

I can safely say that it was obvious that Sen. Santiago was biased in favor of the Philippines' adhesion to the OPCAT. She asked Executive Secretary Ermita where the budget for the establishment and operation of the NPM will come from. He categorically said that it would have to be worked out through the proposed national budget. The resource persons from the human rights community also mentioned the possibility of accessing the special funds from the UN which was established specifically for OPCAT states parties in need of capacity building and other concerns.

Sen. Santiago also asked the executive branch which institution they were recommending to take on the role of the NPM in the Philippines. Executive Secretary Ermita said that government was considering the DILG to act as the central agency in the NPM system. Sen. Santiago was quick to rectify the intent saying that state agencies, most especially executive departments do not qualify to be designated as NPMs since the domestic visiting body needs to be functionally independent and therefore should be detached from any government institution.

Only a handful of civil society representatives and the Chairperson of the Commission on Human Rights were asked to present their positions on the OPCAT. Sen. Santiago chose a good lineup of human rights defenders to draw insights from during the deliberations. Human Rights stalwart Madam Loretta Ann Rosales intensely defended the OPCAT enumerating its benefits to the people while CHRP Chairperson Leila De Lima as always upheld the necessity of the OPCAT in the prevention of torture and improvement of conditions in places of detention in a superb manner. BALAY's Chairperson, Ms. Loreine Dela Cruz also imparted the institution's position on the OPCAT and its value in the protection of the rights of those deprived of their liberty.

Sen. Santiago said she is soon to deliver her sponsorship speech on the OPCAT and that we would all be invited to the sessions.

Our friends from the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations are optimistic that the OPCAT will be ratified by the Philippine Senate soon.

The passage of the Anti-Torture Law, Anti-Enforced Disappearance Law, IHL Law and the CHRP Charter are also in sight.

In the words of our friends from the CHRP, it has been a good year for human rights legislation.

Warmest regards to all!

Ellecer Ebro Carlos
PDRP-STOV Team
BALAY Rehabilitation Center, Inc.