On the United Nations International Day in Support of Victims
of Torture
KARAPATAN says GMA
government not complying with UN Convention against Torture
Press Release
By KARAPATAN
June 26, 2006
QUEZON CITY,
Philippines – The human rights group
KARAPATAN said that the Arroyo government is not complying, and is in
fact violating the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman
or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. The said convention was entered
into force on 26 June 1987 and ratified by the Philippine government
on October 23, 1987.
KARAPATAN, a human
rights watchdog monitoring government compliance to human rights
instruments, said torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading
treatment continue to be recorded in the Philippines under the Arroyo
regime, among them:
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The Erap 5 or 5
supporters of former President Joseph Estrada, namely Virgilio
Eustaquio, chair of the pro-Estrada Union of the Masses for Democracy
and Justice (UMDJ), Jim Cabauatan, Dennis Ebona, Police Officer 3 Jose
Curameng and Ruben Dionisio, who were arrested without warrant in
Eustaquio's home in Kamuning, Quezon City on May 22, 2006. They have
torture marks as shown to media and during their testimony at a Senate
inquiry. |
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Tagaytay 5 - Axel
Alejandro Pinpin, Aristides Sarmiento, Riel Custodio, Rico Ybanez, and
Michael Masa, collectively known as "Tagaytay 5" who were arrested in
Tagaytay, Cavite on mere suspicion that they were members of the New
People's Army (NPA). Physicians who visited them attested that they
were tortured. |
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Eleven young, punk
backpackers collectively known as the "Sagada 11" who were on their
way to Sagada when accosted by the Regional Mobile Group of the
Philippine National Police at a checkpoint. They were stripped naken,
made to endure beatings, watercure, and other forms of cruelty.
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60-year old peace
advocate Angelina Bisuna-Ipong who was forcibly taken from a resort on
March 8, 1995 without a warrant, held in military custody in Zamboanga
for 12 days where she was tortured and sexually molested before being
surfaced in the Pagadian City Jail on March 20, 2005. |
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Eduardo Serrano and
two other women were accosted in early May 2004 after alighting a bus,
has gone missing for more than a week and underwent torture while in
military custody before being surfaced by the military at the Oriental
Mindoro Provincial Jail. His brother was abducted on January 29, 2005
by military operatives, tortured and intimidated before being released
after three days. |
KARAPATAN said the
Arroyo government has the temerity to boast of a good human rights
record when its human rights record is abominable. It purports to
uphold human rights simply because it has signed agreements but it is
not implementing national and international human rights laws that are
only meaningful when practiced.
Instead of being
eliminated, torture continues to be practiced in the Philippines and
around the world by despotic regimes whose cruel methods match their
determination to crush the human spirit. It is still widely used to
intimidate dissidents, extract confessions, or to punish, discipline
or humiliate prisoners, KARAPATAN said and scored the Arroyo ally US
President George W. Bush, for the US torture chambers in Guantanamo
Bay in Cuba and Abu Ghraib and other prisons in Iraq.
On this day, KARAPATAN
said the nation must pay its respect to those who have endured the
unimaginable by speaking up against the unspeakable tools used by
tyrannical regimes to terrorize its citizens.
KARAPATAN demanded for
the immediate and unconditional release of the above-named prisoners
of conscience, drop all malicious charges against them and penalize
military operatives who have committed the despicable crime of
torture. The human rights advocates also called on legislators to
immediately enact House Bill 03021 or An Act Declaring Torture A Crime
and Prescribing Penalties for Commission of Acts of Torture.
