Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, December 1) — The United Nations (UN) Subcommittee on Prevention of Torture (SPT) will visit the Philippines this week to assess how the government has implemented the recommendations it made during its first visit in 2015.
The UN body on Thursday announced that it will be in the country from Dec. 3 to 14 to advise authorities on how to fulfill its international commitments to prevent torture and ill treatment.
In 2012, the Philippines ratified the “Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture,” which obliges State parties to set up independent national preventive mechanisms that would examine the treatment of people in detention and strengthen policies that protect them from abuse.
“The Philippines is one of the States parties who are significantly overdue in establishing a national mechanism for torture prevention under the Optional Protocol, and we consider our visit as an opportunity to help the authorities set up the country’s independent monitory body,” said Victor Zaharia, head of the delegation.
The subcommittee said it will conduct confidential interviews and check the situation of people deprived of liberty, including not only detainees but also patients in psychiatric hospitals. During its stay, it is expected to meet with government officials, civil society representatives and UN agencies.
At the end of its visit, the SPT will present its confidential preliminary observations to the national government.
The delegation will be accompanied by two human rights officers from the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.
The group Karapatan said it will raise a number of issues with the UN delegation, including alleged torture against political prisoners and documented violations of the anti-torture and anti-enforced disappearances laws.
Based on the human rights group’s data, there are 795 political detainees in the country, 84 of whom were arrested under the current administration.
Karapatan Secretary General Cristina Palabay said several political detainees have been arrested on trumped-up charges.
