‘Gawking chasm’ in PH human rights

MANILA, Philippines–The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) on Tuesday called on all sectors of the bureaucracy to draw up policies that would promote a culture of human rights, from the national government down to the barangays (villages).

The call came from CHR Chair Loretta Ann Rosales, a victim of human rights violations herself, having been arrested and tortured during Ferdinand Marcos’ martial law regime.

Rosales issued the call as the Philippines celebrates Human Rights Consciousness Week, which ends today, Dec. 10.

In a statement, Rosales said the gap between human rights aspirations and reality was “a gawking chasm that mocks each of us.”

“Unless we are able to put our foot down and assert our collective political will to end impunity and cultivate a culture of human rights in every nook and corner of governance, development would never be a right but the privilege of a few,” she said.

Rosales said: “Every step of the process of righting the wrong must be guided by the lens of human rights, in every way, and all the way.”

Highest levels

Protecting human rights must start from the highest levels of government to the barangay, she said.

“We must bring together government, school, church, the security sector and community in concrete plans of action that translate human rights into policies that uphold human dignity and sustain the environment,” Rosales said.

The CHR chief said that even today, there were still complaints by the ordinary folk on the abuse of authority by the state, including local officials, prison officials, the police and the military.

Enforced disappearances and arbitrary killings of antigovernment critics and criminals may have been reduced but still remain a threat, she said.

Problem of torture

Rosales said the impunity with which gun-for-hire gangs carried out assassinations on board motorcycles, and the human trafficking and sexual abuse of women and children remained major human rights violations.

The problem of torture that persists “reflects the failure of authorities to instill discipline … among the rank and file,” she said.

This holds true for school authorities unable to protect students against hazing and other forms of degrading treatment, she added.

Rosales cited Republic Act No. 10368, which was passed last year to give recognition to and provide reparation to human rights victims during the martial law years.

She pointed out that the law—the first of its kind in the world—showed that the state accepted responsibility for the thousands of human rights abuses during that dark period.

“For the state to continue to remain relevant and legitimate in the eyes of the people, (it) must never again allow the resurgence of authoritarianism,” Rosales said.

Dig into the past

She said that with the reparation law, the government can gradually win the people’s confidence.

Rosales maintained that a culture of human rights must be built today “to tip the balance in favor of a just future.”

She urged schools to assume the task of “digging into the painful past and magnify in proud perspective the stories of heroism of those who kept the light burning in the dark days of dictatorship.”

Palparan’s arrest

Marc Titus Cebreros, chief of the CHR human rights information division, said the legal backbone for the protection of human rights had become stronger with the passage of several laws, including the reparation of victims of abuses.

“There are still cases of torture, extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances. But what is important is that there is progress being made, somehow,” Cebreros said.

In an interview, Cebreros cited the arrest of former Army Gen. Jovito Palparan, tagged by militant groups as a “butcher” for his alleged abuses.

Cebreros also pointed to the prosecution of dismissed Senior Insp. Joselito Binayug, captured on video while allegedly torturing a suspected thief in a Manila police precinct in 2010.

“We see some cases progressing, but the numbers are inconclusive. We cannot say if human rights violations have become worse,” Cebreros said.

Signs of progress in the protection of human rights include laws enacted against torture, enforced disappearances and human trafficking.

“Unlike previous years, the legal framework for the protection of human rights has become stronger,” he said.

Cases in Mindanao

Still, many challenges remain in promoting a culture of human rights, he said.

Cebreros said that in the Philippines, most officials were only beginning to appreciate the culture of human rights.

He cited what he said was a worrying trend in Mindanao, where there has been an increase in extrajudicial killings—or “salvagings”—of criminals in Cagayan de Oro, Butuan, Koronadal and Tacurong cities.

In particular, the state forces—the military and the police—have a “high resistance” to the concept of human rights, Cebreros said.

No. 1 violator

“The relics of martial law are still alive,” he said, adding that antihuman rights practices were still present in both institutions, such as hazing during training.

“The state is still the number one violator of human rights,” Cebreros said. “For the police, it’s cases of torture. For the military, it’s cases of enforced disappearance and extrajudicial killings related to the anti-insurgency efforts.”

While both institutions are vocal in their response when human rights abuses are committed against their ranks, such as hazing incidents, the state forces respond to allegations of abuses from the outside by “taking care of their own.”

In the case of Palparan, the Armed Forces of the Philippines insisted on holding him in its own facility even though he was ordered detained at the Bulacan provincial jail.

“The message is: They are taking care of their own … This pulls back the discourse on human rights,” Cebreros stressed.

He said Palparan’s case was a “missed chance” and that the military should not have asserted holding him.

Some officers sincere

The CHR said that while some officers were sincere in wanting to apply human rights practices according to policies, this was not always shared by field commanders.

“The ones at the top should make the doctrines. But we are not seeing that,” Cebreros said.

He cited Australia, Germany, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States which “have very good human rights-based practices when it comes to training soldiers and cops.”

While incidents like hazing have lessened,   he said there was a need to improve the training of state forces.

“We want to teach every policeman and every soldier that when they violate another person’s human rights, they violate their own dignity. They allow the animal nature to prevail over human nature,” Cebreros said.