MANILA – The United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) castigated the Philippines for its failure for the past 20 years to submit periodic reports as part of its obligation in the country’s implementation of the UN Convention Against Torture.
At the same time, the UNHRC chided the Philippines for the failure of the Senate and the House of Representatives to pass the proposed anti-torture bill which has been pending before the two chambers for the past 10 years.
Ironically, the Philippines received the brunt of the scolding while serving as vice chairman of the UNHRC, a position to which it was elected in 2008, based on a report released in Manila by the UN Information Center.
In particular, members of a panel of experts described as “unsatisfactory” the answers provided by the Philippine delegation on questions they posed on the periodic reports on how the country is implementing the provisions of the UN Convention Against Torture.
The delegation, headed by Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita, attended the recent UNHRC annual meeting in Geneva, Switzerland.
As one of the 146 states who signed the convention, the experts reminded the Philippines of its obligation to provide the UNHRC Committee Against Torture periodic reports on the steps it has taken to fight torture
In reply to the questions, the Philippines blamed national and international, natural and man-made challenges it faced that resulted in the 20-year gap in its reporting on torture cases.
Ermita said the Philippines is facing a major communist insurgency as well as a Muslim secessionist problem in strife-torn Mindanao, both of which presented threats to national security.
Specifically, Ermita cited the threat posed by the Abu Sayyaf militants in Mindanao which foreign and local security officials have confirmed to have ties with foreign terrorist organizations like the Indonesia-based Jemaah Islamiyah and the international terrorist network of Osama bin Laden.
On the anti-torture bill, Ermita explained that the Philippine Congress failed to enact the measure for the past 10 years due to political issues which he failed to clarify.
Serving as rapporteur for the Philippine report, Felice Gaer, a member of the panel of experts, expressed regret that while the Philippines has been one of the first countries to report to the UNHRC Committee Against Torture, it has been 20 years since the country had last reported.
Gaer wondered how the challenges of armed and terrorist threats have affected the proposed anti-torture bill pending in Congress.
Gaeir also noted that the information provided to the committee by the Philippines showed the safeguards against the use of torture were not enforced in practice.
For instance, available information indicated that persons are denied direct access to legal counsel immediately after their arrest, according to Gaer.
Earlier, Philip Alston, the UN special rapporteur on extra-judicial killings, scored the Arroyo administration for failing to implement measures and reforms to stop summary executions and other human rights abuses in the Philippines.
Alston submitted the report to the UNHRC as a follow-up to the report he had submitted to the council when he visited the Philippines in 2007 to look into unexplained political killings of activists, journalists and even members of religious groups.
Alston warned that “vigilante-style” executions, especially in Davao City in Mindanao, have significantly worsened since 2007, with death squads claiming a victim almost every day.
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