Palace pushes quick probe, action on torture row

Admitting it is worried about negative perceptions caused by the incident, Malacañang on Saturday pushed for a speedy investigation into the alleged torture of a suspected thief by a policeman inside a Manila police station. Presidential Communications Development Strategic and Planning Secretary Ramon “Ricky" Carandang said government cannot afford to be portrayed as allowing torture and as being part of a “culture of violence." “We have instances where we see torture, the government and its agencies should act fast in trying to resolve it. There should be no perception we are dragging our heels on this," Carandang said on government-run dzRB radio. The government is laboring to dispel allegations of a culture of violence that includes torture, after the controversy sparked by a cell phone video of a supposed torture session inside a police facility in Manila’s Tondo district. In the video, the torture victim had his penis string tied as he was lying on the floor naked while being beaten by a man who seemed to be a policeman. But while the policemen in the facility had been placed under investigation, government’s critics have made claims that torture has become a custom among law enforcers to extract confessions from suspected criminals. Carandang stressed that appropriate government agencies are already investigating the torture case. “Para sa akin, para maalis ang kultura ng violence na perception ng tao, kailangan siguro makita na talagang kumikilos ang gobyerno laban sa ganyan (For me, to remove the perception of a culture of violence, we have to make people see the government is acting swiftly on the matter)," he said. He said the Commission on Human Rights is already investigating the case, while media is quick to report on developments of the incident. “Media is very quick to report and rightly so," he added. “We want to eliminate this culture of violence, the best thing is to show we will not tolerate it anymore at yan ang ginagawa natin ngayon (and we are doing just that)," he said. Meanwhile, international and local human rights groups condemned what they consider as police brutality. The police earlier hinted the incident was an isolated case. But a Hong Kong-based Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) did not think it was. "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. 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. — LBG, GMANews.TV