Monday, November 19, 2007 Adviser pushes tougher HSA law By Danilo V. Adorador III
LEFTISTS and several citizens' groups label most of its provisions "inhuman," but National Security Adviser Roberto Gonzalez would like to push the envelope further by describing the anti-terror Human Security Act (HSA) of 2007 "weak" and needing revision.
"Of the 26 key provisions of the Human Security Act, 22 are directed against law enforcers. I don't think the provisions in this law could meet the terrorist threats we are facing at the moment," Gonzalez said in a recent press briefing with the Cagayan de Oro media.
Gonzalez lamented that the law's key provisions aimed at "suppressing" and "preventing" terrorist acts had been watered down as a result of "compromise" negotiations among its supporters and opponents in the Senate.
The official did not elaborate on the provisions he would want revised, but noted that almost all of the HSA's sections are embedded with penal provisions directed against law enforcement officers who fail to protect the rights of apprehended terror suspects enumerated under the law.
Law enforcement officers, he said, are threatened with 10 to 12 years of imprisonment for simple neglect and other errors that come with enforcing the provisions of the anti-terror law.
"We want this reviewed, and we are on the process of consulting with our legislators to convince them that what the law gives us is not enough," he said.
While he does not object to punishing erring policemen, Gonzales said the objective of the anti-terror law has diminished when the legislators "focused more" on crafting "punitive sanctions against our law enforcers" and on giving "exorbitant payment" as damages for wrongful detention.
The official was referring to the built-in "safeguards" of the HSA, which militant groups said are ineffective.
Left-leaning Bayan Muna argued that P500,000 payment for each day of illegal detention "is no safeguard at all considering that the amount will not come from the erring military or police officer but from public funds, namely the budget of the erring agency, the antiterrorism council and the president's social and emergency funds."
While arresting officers face 10 to 12 years of imprisonment if they fail to notify a judge of an arrest and detention of a suspected terrorist, the group said the provision remains ineffective in ensuring that the suspect is not illegally detained after being presented to a judicial entity.
Still, Gonzales insists that the current HSA provisions provide little help in combating domestic and international terrorism.
"We need to review this law and we need to act fast. The terrorists in our midst are not resting," he warned.
For Bayan, along with groups advocating for the repeal of the controversial law, the current HSA provisions already trump basic rights.
And amending it to Gonzales's version would make it only worse, said Lawyer Beverly Musni, head of the human rights group Karapatan.
