PHILIPPINES – Rights group challenges new president to run after torturers
30 June 2010 10:46 am

ph_2010_basta_run_against_torture_brat_iv.jpgTask Force
Detainees
of the Philippines (TFDP) and relatives of political prisoners/detainees
join
the other members of UATC or the United Against Torture Coalition
Philippines
and the freedom from torture advocates worldwide in commemorating the
International Day in Support of Torture Victims by challenging P-Noy
(President-elect Benigno S. Aquino III)
to
release
all political prisoners/detainees who are most often also victims of
torture
and to prosecute their torturers.   
ph_2010_basta_run_against_torture_brat_iv.jpg(Source: Task Force Detainees of the Philippines, 25 June
2010)
Task Force
Detainees
of the Philippines (TFDP) and relatives of political prisoners/detainees
join
the other members of UATC or the United Against Torture Coalition
Philippines
and the freedom from torture advocates worldwide in commemorating the
International Day in Support of Torture Victims by challenging P-Noy (President-elect Benigno S. Aquino III)
to
release
all political prisoners/detainees who are most often also victims of
torture
and to prosecute their torturers.   
 
"We celebrate the
criminalization of
a gross human rights violation such as torture through the Republic Act
9745 or
the "Anti-Torture Act" after decades of lobby and campaigns, but we also
grieve
that despite its passage torture still remains a practice among the
Armed
Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine National Police," Emmanuel
Amistad,
Executive Director of Task Force Detainees of the Philippines stated.
 
"In
fact TFDP documented the
torture of
4 Dumagats in Dingalan, Aurora just a few weeks after PGMA signed RA9745
in
November 10, 2009.  Worse is that the
incident happened during the Human Rights Week 2009 celebration when the
military illegally arrested and tortured the four victims, forcing them
to admit
involvement with the rebel group New Peoples' Army (NPA)," Amistad
added.
 
"Then the most recent case
was the
Illegal arrest and torture of Hilo Idlao Aytag, 38 years old, of
Panaytayan,
Mansalay, Oriental Mindoro, a member of the Mangyan tribe. He was
tortured by
members of the 4th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army
to
force him to disclose his alleged membership to the rebel group New
Peoples'
Army (NPA). The incident took place on March 12, 2010."
  
"Agents
of the state
continue in
using torture with impunity to extract confessions and punish political
offenders,
human rights defenders, suspected rebels and even ordinary civilians
despite
the law under PGMA's claimed legacy of defeating insurgents," he
continued.
 
TFDP records show that there
are 585
documented victims of torture under President Arroyo's term.  There
are 3,275 victims of illegal arrests
and detention and a total of 271 political prisoners and political
detainees
languishing in jails nationwide as of June 15, 2010.
 
"Now, under
the incoming
P-Noy
administration, we cannot help but reiterate our ardent call for justice
for
all victims of torture.  With immediate
implementation of RA 9745, P-Noy must prosecute torturers and all human
rights
violators.  We expect P-Noy to be
different from PGMA by breaking impunity in human rights violations. We
demand that P-Noy release all political
prisoners and run after their torturers," He said.  
 
Lastly
Amistad challenge
P-Noy to
sincerely declare zero tolerance for torture and torturers under his
leadership
and that no one shall be subjected to torture in his administration and
that
violators of human rights will be jailed accordingly.
 
TFDP
commemorates the
torture victims'
day with fellow advocates through the UATC's annual "Basta! Run Against
Torture
or BRAT IV". The run starts from CHR at 7:00 am and ends at Bantayog ng
mga
Bayani in Quezon Avenue
on June 25, 2010.