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Saturday, January 14, 2006
Speak out: Humiliating suspects
By Asian Human Rights Commission
The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) writes to voice our contempt the “systematic practice” by the police, military and government officials in the Philippines in showing the faces of arrested suspects before the media and general public. This practice constitutes a serious violation of a person’s right to be presumed innocent.
Of further concern is that there are no domestic laws or administrative orders that prohibit this practice. In other Asian countries, like Thailand and Hong Kong, this practice is strictly prohibited.
In Thailand, the Royal Thai Police recently issued a regulation that “generally prohibits police from taking victims or suspects to a press conference or letting reporters or photographers take pictures of them inside or outside a police station.”
In Hong Kong, arrested suspects are hooded upon their arrest. During press conferences, only evidence allegedly taken from the suspects is presented.
In the Philippines, however, police, military and government officials are often seen in the media parading suspects with their face fully revealed. The suspects are often forced to wear shirts printed with the name of the police unit who either arrested them or took them into custody.
The government’s inaction and failure to enact laws to prohibit this systematic practice has directly encouraged the discrimination and humiliation of suspects by the police, military and public officials.
It has also sent a strong message to the general public that the practice is acceptable and that suspects do not deserve certain rights when it is alleged that they have been involved in a crime.
In many cases, this practice has resulted in suspects being deemed guilty by society before they have been able to prove their innocence in court. There have been several instances where suspects have been attacked, severely beaten, verbally humiliated and demonized, with the police or military doing little to protect them while in their custody.
It has also become known that the police or military officers have in some circumstances physically restrained suspects, giving opportunity to complainants or victims to attack them. This practice encourages people taking the law into their own hands instead of resolving their grievances or complaints in a competent court.
The Philippines has ratified various international human rights instruments, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).
Article 10 (1) of the Covenant stipulates that: “All persons deprived of their liberty shall be treated with humanity and with respect for the inherent dignity of the human person.”
Article 14 (2) of the Covenant likewise recognizes the principles of the presumption of innocence. It is a basic right that any suspect or person who is suspected of having committed or has committed an offense is respected of his dignity and right to be “presumed innocent.”
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (January 14, 2006 issue)
Write letter to the editor.Click here.
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