PNP launches app on rights

You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney.

That’s the Miranda warning and it should be read to you by the police officer who is arresting you for breaking the law.

If he doesn’t, you can question your arrest.

And it’s one of the things that you will learn when you download the “Know Your Rights” mobile application, which the Philippine National Police is launching on Monday to kick off the celebration of National Human Rights Consciousness Week.

The PNP says the app is the first of its kind.

“Through the Know Your Rights mobile application, all human rights advisories and policies crafted by the PNP, including the contents of the New Miranda Warning Pocket Card with Anti-Torture Reminders, can be downloaded, stored in all Android smartphones,” Chief Supt. Dennis Siervo, head of the PNP Human Rights Affairs Office, said on Sunday.

Respect for human rights

Siervo said the app was “more than just a technology-driven” police program.

“It is our public affirmation of the PNP’s duty to respect, protect and fulfill human rights,” he said.

The theme of Human Rights Consciousness Week is “Stand Up for Someone’s Right Today.”

The PNP has killed thousands of drug suspects in President Duterte’s bloody war on drugs, drawing expressions of concern from the United States, European Union, United Nations and international rights groups about violations of human rights in the Philippines.

Mr. Duterte, who brooks no opposition to his policies, has badmouthed them all and threatened to slap UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial killings Agnes Callamard if she insists on investigating the killings in his war on drugs.

The UN human rights office has rebuked Mr. Duterte over the threat.

The Know Your Rights app can be downloaded from the Google Play Store by Android mobile device users.

For police, too

Siervo said police could access the app even without internet connectivity.

It would be most useful to field officers “engaged in the intensified campaign of the PNP against criminality, corruption and illegal drugs who are in far-flung areas,” he said.

“Thus, it equips PNP personnel with the right information or materials with which to advise citizens or persons placed under police custody of their rights under the law,” Siervo said.

Siervo said the public could use the app, which provides easy access to information on citizens’ fundamental rights and basic information on police operational procedures and rules of engagement.