MANILA – The claims of the Philippine National Police denying allegations of torture and abuse against individuals arrested during the protest last Sept. 21 are outright lies. 

This is the assertion of human rights group Karapatan following the statement of PNP Spokesperson Brig. Gen. Randulf Tuaño dismissing claims that those detained experienced torture.

“There is no other credible evidence of the abuse, torture and cruelty that the arrested individuals suffered in the hands of the PNP than their very own testimonies and that of their families and lawyers,” said Karapatan Deputy Secretary General Maria Sol Taule. 

Taule, together with other lawyers and paralegals,  assisted the families of those who were arrested in the Sept. 21 protest in Mendiola. She was among the first responders who went to the jails.

She added, “All of these clearly point to physical and psychological torture, child abuse, forced and degrading tasks, and extortion by police personnel while in custody at the Manila Police District (MPD).”

In a previos Bulatlat report, the lawyers have confirmed that there are indications of torture among those arrested. 

Read: Groups demand probe on ‘cover-up and police brutality’ 

In an earlier statement of Karapatan, Edzel Santos, a person with disability (PWD), was beaten, suffocated with a bag over his head, and sustained multiple injuries while in custody. Other PWDs, including Alexis Bisuyo and Alvin Karingal (also known as Kwek-kwek boy), also sustained injuries during police interrogation. Karingal was released on Sept. 30. 

Karapatan also emphasized that the routinary medical examinations conducted under police control cannot ensure proper documentation of abuse, especially when victims are under duress and fear of retaliation. “If, as the PNP claims, medical examinations were conducted immediately, then we dare them to disprove the detainees’ own testimonies of maltreatment and beatings while in police custody,” Taule said. 

Taule said that the PNP’s insistence that torture was “impossible” because lawyers were present during inquest proceedings is an outright lie. She said, “We were not with the detainees 24/7, all of the torture happen as soon as the lawyers and/or their family members left and the detainees are again in the hands of the police, suffering their brutality.” 

Taule stressed that the liars are clearly Secretary of Interior and Local Government Jonvic Remulla, the MPD and PNP and Manila Mayor Isko Moreno “when they insist that there is no violence employed during the September 21 protests.”

“Too bad for them, there are many videos and photos that have surfaced online with police carrying high powered firearms and in fact, firing them which caused an innocent bystander to be killed. Videos also proved that the police randomly picked up individuals present at the protest, beat them and one they manhandled and hit his head on the ground,” Taule said.

Meanwhile, the National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers (NUPL) stressed that the Philippine Constitution forbids arbitrary detention, torture, and cruel or degrading treatment. Domestic law, from the Juvenile Justice and Welfare Act to the Anti-Torture Act, requires that the rights of arrested and detained persons be respected. They added that international treaties to which the Philippines is party bind the State to the same obligations. “These safeguards were routinely disregarded,” the NUPL said. 

“The police have had every opportunity to prove otherwise: through transparency, open access to lawyers, families, and doctors, and full independent investigation. Instead, they have chosen denial and whitewash,” lawyers group added. 

“Between the police, with a long history of brutality, and detainees who risk further retaliation by speaking out, who is more credible? This climate of impunity is grimly familiar and reminiscent of the Tokhang years, when blood ran in the streets even as authorities looked the public in the eye and denied what everyone could see,” the NUPL) said in a statement. 

The NUPL reiterated their call for the immediate release of all those unlawfully arrested on September 21. They also call for urgent medical treatment of those injured, and for a full, independent inquiry into the acts of torture, cruel treatment, and arbitrary detention committed under police custody. (RVO)

 Save as PDF