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CHRP Presents Views on Government Compliance to UN Anti-Torture Body

Leila De Lima, Chairperson of the Commission on Human Rights, has set another precedent as a National Human Rights Institution by sharing the time given by the UN Committee against Against Torture (UNCAT) with Congressman Lorenzo “Erin” R. Tanada III, Chair of the House of Representatives' Committee on Human Rights, during the recent 42 nd session of the Committee in Geneva, Switzerland.

Realizing that the primary obligation under the Convention against Torture, and other Cruel, Inhuman, and Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT) has been unfulfilled with the anti-torture bill languishing in Congress since the early 90's, the Commission has sought the representation of the House Human Rights Chair Tañada to enlighten the Committee on the status of the bills in Congress.

Breaking the UN Committee against Torture's tradition of having private meetings with NHRIs, the Commission shared its time with Tanada to directly address the Committee and discuss why no law has been passed 22 years since the entry into force of the Convention in the Philippines and enlighten the members on what it will take to finally criminalize torture in the country.

“We will do what it takes to ensure that remedies are in place for victims of torture in the country, this is precisely why we have brought Congressman Tanada to be with us,” De Lima said.

Tanada was able to shephered the passage of the anti-torture bill in Congress on third reading last 4 March 2009 . According to the legislator, “This has been the farthest that the legislature has come for the anti-torture bill. While the Senate counterpart is still at the plenary level, Senator Francis Escudero who chairs the Senate Committee on Justice and Human Rights has committed to step up the process and pave the way for the bicameral conference to take place. But even with the bicameral conference taking up the bill, the ratification of the measure can still be stalled if the bill is not calendared for ratification by both houses of congress. The influence of the President at this time is crucial to ensure its passage before the end of the year,” Tanada added.

Both de Lima and Tanada reiterated the need for the anti-torture bill to be certified as urgent. “'The Commission is urging the executive to wield the President's persuasive powers in both houses of Congress. This has been demonstrated when the President asked Congress to immediately pass the anti-death penalty law. It can be done for the anti-torture bill and other needed measures for addressing persisting human rights violations in the country,”' de Lima adds.

The Commission on Human Rights presented its views on the compliance of government and reiterated that the passage of the anti-torture bill is a shared responsibility of the legislature and the executive. De Lima urged the government to certify the anti-torture bill as urgent, alongside other measures including the Charter aiming to strengthen powers and organization of the Commission and the proposal on the anti-enforced disappearance.

The CHR reported to the Committee 139 documented cases of alleged torture, and likewise informed it of the case of the Manalo brothers which, according to the CHR, is “a window to a systematic practice of torture in the Philippines .”

Government was urged to install effective remedies for human rights violations in the Philippines through the adoption of the CHRP formulated Human Rights Legislative Agenda which contains proposed measures based on human rights treaties to which the government is state party.

The CHR, through De Lima, also took a dig at the apparent ‘catch 22’ situation wherein government asserts that there is no policy of torture and that any complaint is immediately addressed, but is hard put to account for the number of torture cases investigated and prosecuted, saying that there is a great difficulty in tracing the cases as they are hidden in charges of other offenses.

De Lima also told the Committee that there were instances that the CHR is denied access or visitation to detention facilities, particularly military camps.

In the opening statement of the Philippine Government delegation to the Committee, 10am of 28 April Geneva time, Executive Secretary Ermita acknowledged the presence of De Lima and Tañada. He cited the Commission “as an important partner in the effective advancement of human rights in the country and support the ongoing legislative efforts to strengthen its independence” and recognized Tañada “who comes from a line of progressive legislators in the Philippines . His grandfather, the late Senator Lorenzo Tanada Sr, is highly regarded as among our country's modern day heroes and his father former Senator Wigberto Tanada Jr, a colleague [of Ermita] in the 9 th Congress of the Philippines and the Philippine National Unification Commission.”

Ermita added that “the Arroyo Administration likewise fully supports, in addition to the approval of the anti-torture bill, all other actions proposed by the Commission on Human Rights that are relevant to the implementation of the convention,” citing the bills on the institutional strengthening of the Commission, unification of penitentiary systems under one agency, release of detained persons on recognizance, the prohibition of public display of persons accused and the enforcement of command responsibility.

The Executive Secretary also updated the Committee on government efforts to ratify the Optional Protocol on the Convention against Torture (OPCAT) specifically on the establishment of the national preventive mechanism. The Commission on Human Rights is poised to take the lead in its operation along with members of civil society and non-government organizations. Ermita also welcomed the recommendations of the Commission on an independent impact assessment of government's human rights education program and cited that nationwide consultations to formulate the country's second national human rights program that will take into consideration outcomes from its Universal Periodic Review of its membership to the UN Human Rights Council.

In his closing statement, Ermita acknowledged the 139 investigated complaints of torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment. The complaints were investigated by the CHR using the Istanbul Protocol as standard.

The Commission is awaiting the Concluding Observations of the Committee and will be disseminating the document to all duty holders in order to ensure implementation of recommendations arising from the discussion of the government and the committee to implement the obligations of the Philippines as a state party to the Covenant.

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