Basta! Run Against Torture (BRAT) XII 
June 26 (Tuesday), 2018

The United Nations Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (UNCAT) is an international human rights instrument that aims to prohibit and prevent torture and cruel, inhuman degrading treatment or punishment around the world. The United Nations Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment (UNCAT) came into force on 26 June 1987 after 20 ratifications since its adoption by the UN General assembly on 10 Dec 1984.

This year, 34 years after the UNCAT was adopted and with more than 150 state parties, the world has yet to rid of the continued use and practice of torture and ill-treatment. Over recent years, there has been an assault on various fundamental rights in the context of counter terrorism, protecting national security, stopping the rise of criminality, and maintaining peace and order. The protection against torture, an absolute and non-derogable right, provided by the treaty has been undermined – marked by a growing acceptance of torture or other ill-treatment in the context of intelligence-gathering, resort to illegal modes of detention for those suspected of involvement in terrorism, criminality and subversion, and lack of accountability for those who have authorized or committed torture and other ill-treatment. These are key challenges facing the human rights movement today.

This June, for the UN International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, in solidarity with different freedom form torture and human rights organizations around the world, the United Against Torture Coalition will focus on the Philippine Government’s obligation and commitment to:

 ensure that the right of everyone to be free from torture is fully respected, protected and fulfilled;

 uphold the rule of law in the course of ensuring peace and order and exacting justice;

 ensure zero counts on the use of torture by its state representatives and agents; and,

 end the use and practice of torture within its territory and jurisdiction.

Background

Torture is abhorrent. Torture is illegal. Yet torture is inflicted on men, women and children in the Philippines and well over half the countries around the world. Despite the universal condemnation of torture, it is still being used openly and secretly using national and international security from acts of terror as justifications for such acts. It is used to extract confession, to interrogate, to punish or to intimidate. While governments condemn terrorist acts, it is also evident that acts of terror are happening inside detention centers and prison cells, on city streets and in remote villages. The cruelty of torturers kills, maims, and leave scars on the body and mind that last a lifetime. The victims of torture are not just people in the hands of the torturers. Friends, families and the wider community all suffer. Torture even damages and distorts and the hopes of future generations.

In the Philippines, in spite of strong provisions enshrined in the Philippine Constitution prohibiting the use of torture, its criminalization as provided for by Republic Act 9745 or the Anti-Torture Law of 2009, and the country having been a state party to the UN Convention Against Torture (UNCAT) since 1987 and the Optional Protocol to Convention Against Torture (OPCAT) since 2012, the act remains widely used and accepted today. Only one perpetrator, Police Officer Jerrick Dee, has been convicted of the crime while many others remain “untouched” by the legal system as they continue to operate with impunity.

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Group appeal for help after accusing Philippine military of trying to arrest them during a parent-teachers meeting

A tribal youth from Mindanao joins a demonstration in Manila in February to protest the reported attacks on tribal schools in the southern Philippines. (Photo by Mark Saludes)

Mark Saludes, Manila, Philippines June 22, 2018

A group of six tribal teachers in the southern Philippines sought sanctuary in a parish church in Surigao del Sur province on June 20 after accusing soldiers of trying to arrest them.

Father Raymond Ambray, head of the social action center of Tandag Diocese, told ucanews.com that soldiers tried to take the teachers to a military camp.

“We heard news about human rights workers, teachers, and priests being killed because of their advocacies. We do not want another case like that to happen,” said the priest.

He said Bishop Raul Dael of Tandag instructed members of the clergy in his diocese “to provide sanctuary to people and prevent the spread of a culture of violence and intolerance.”

The teachers, who work for the non-government Tribal Filipino Program in the province, were holding a parent-teacher meeting in a village school when the soldiers arrived.

Tandag Diocese was instrumental in establishing the tribal Filipino education program in hinterland villages in the 1970s.

“We were brought to the village hall for questioning after they halted the meeting,” said teacher Arle John Enriquez.

Enriquez said the teachers were told to stop teaching tribal people. “The soldiers insisted we should close our school,” he said.

The military earlier accused the teachers of being communist rebels who were teaching “subversive ideology” to students.

During the meeting, an army official ordered that the teachers be taken to the local military headquarters for “questioning.”

To avoid an “interrogation” by the military, the teachers contacted the diocese to ask for assistance and protection, Enriquez said.

Military spokesman Major Ezra Balagtey denied the claims.

“Our troops were there to assist the village council and mediate a disagreement between parties,” Balagtey told ucanews.com.

The military official said they received a complaint about the teachers and the tribal school, adding that no arrests were made during what was a “peace-building effort.”

Father Ambray, however, said if there was a misunderstanding among the civilians, the village council could have intervened, not the military.

“The military are not allowed inside the premises of any school. This was a clear act of intimidation,” he said.