CHR official fumes over police 'handling' of torture victim's wife

A Commission on Human Rights (CHR) official fumed Friday over the "fast action" of police in taking them the wife of a supposed victim of torture at a police precinct in Manila. CHR Commissioner Cecilia Quisumbing scored the way the Philippine National Police's Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (PNP-CIDG) fetched and questioned the victim's wife. "Hinanap [siya] ng CIDG, this is one time mabilis [sila] mag-imbestiga (The CIDG sought the wife. This is one time the police moved very quickly)," Quisumbing said in an interview on dzBB radio. The PNP faces intense public scrutiny in the wake of a scandal involving a cellular phone video that showed a policeman torturing a suspected thief. Quisumbing said the victim's wife, identified only as Anna, had sought CHR’s help. Citing information from her office, Quisumbing said a CIDG team tracked down the wife and asked her to go with them, around 3 p.m. of Thursday, to shed more light on the case. The commissioner said the wife agreed only after a television news crew accompanied her. Quisumbing also said the police asked for documents from Anna which they photocopied. Police later returned only the photocopies and kept the original copies, she said. Acting on the call from the TV crew, Quisumbing sought the woman. "Ini-interview siya at pagdating ko kinukuha na nila officially, sinusulat na (When I arrived, the police were already questioning the wife)," Quisumbing said, adding she even asked the CIDG operatives why they took the torture victim's wife using an unmarked private vehicle. Quisumbing insisted that the woman was entitled to be represented by a lawyer before she gives a statement to the police. The wife has been provided a private lawyer, with the help of the Public Attorney's Office, the commissioner said. But CIDG head Chief Superintendent Leonilo dela Cruz said Anna no longer needed a lawyer since she is being considered a "complaining witness" and not a suspected criminal, who is covered by the Miranda Rights. "Ang complaining witness may option siya na dalhin ang abogado or dalhin na lang ang sinumpaang salaysay na free willing kahit walang abogado," dela Cruz said. Dela Cruz claimed Anna "was not asking for a lawyer," even as he stressed they were merely "facilitating" her to obtain her statement on the issue. He also denied allegations that investigators have been preventing Anna from going home. Contesting Dela Cruz's claim, Quisumbing later said in a statement: "Witnesses and victims, anyone giving information or interviewed and interrogated by the police, have the same rights as suspects and even more, such the liberty to leave when they want." Meanwhile, incoming CHR chairwoman Loretta Ann Rosales warned police in the supposed torture may face murder charges if the victim indeed had died. "Kung ang torture resulted in death ‘di lang torture yan, this will already be murder, dalawang kaso yan (If the victim had died, the policemen involved here may face charges of murder, not just torture)," she said in an interview on dwIZ radio. ‘Good’ anti-torture laws A senior Catholic bishop and international non-government organizations are urging the Philippine government to take stronger action against torture, in the wake of the Tondo torture case. Puerto Princesa (Palawan) bishop Pedro Arigo demanded stronger enforcement of the country's anti-torture law. “We have good laws, but the problem is their implementation," said Arigo, who chairs of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of the Philippines Episcopal Commission on Prison Pastoral Care, in an article on the Union of Catholic Asian News website. Also, Arigo called on relatives of the victim to seek redress, saying torture should never be tolerated even among convicted prisoners. “Torture is a crime that should not be tolerated, even among convicted prisoners," he said. The torture scandal stemmed from a cellular phone video showing a man being tortured by a policeman inside a police precinct in Manila's Tondo district. In the video, the torture victim, whom reports said had been arrested for theft, had his penis string tied as he was lying on the floor naked. Hong Kong-based Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) belied police claims that the Tondo torture was an isolated case. "This is not an isolated case…. This is rather an unwritten policy that is heavily embedded and well-practiced in the minds of the police in investigating and preventing crimes," the group said. It added that the case is neither indiscriminate nor isolated, but rather "targeted and systematic practice" among law enforcement agencies and security forces. The AHRC said it has documented numerous cases of torture that took place inside police station and military camps. Meanwhile, International rights group Amnesty International (AI) urged the government to investigate cases of torture under the new Anti-Torture Law, which was passed in July 2009. AI noted the government has yet to prosecute anyone under the law. The group said the torture case will be a gauge of President Aquino's commitment to his campaign promise of protecting human rights. But the group, in a statement, questioned PNP leadership's claims that the entire police force had undergone human rights training. “This is the right time for the Aquino administration to take a stand against torture, by showing that perpetrators, particularly police officers who have been sworn to serve and protect the people, will be prosecuted," said AI Deputy Director for Asia-Pacific Donna Guest. Guest lamented that with the alleged torture of a suspected thief, the police's so-called training "seems to have been lost in practice." On the other hand, AI noted Aquino has so far established only a Truth Commission to investigate abuses under his predecessor, instead of the "superbody" to look into political killings. The Truth Commission, created by Aquino's Executive Order No. 1, only covers incidents in the last nine years - all under now Pampanga Rep. Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. "Protection of human rights was one of Aquino's key campaign promises but Amnesty International is concerned that he has not done enough in the first 50 days of the administration," it said. AI also urged Aquino to look into recent allegations of police torture of five detainees held on suspicion of involvement in the communist armed insurgency in Pampanga. One of the detainees, Lenin Salas, revealed severe bruising and cigarette burns that he said were results of torture and other ill-treatment by the police. — with a report by Mark Merueñas/LBG, GMANews.TV