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.
