Illustration image depicting acts of torture committed in Police custody.
Anyone arrested on suspicion of criminal activity in the Philippines risks being tortured or ill-treated in police custody. Many victims are children and almost all are from poor and disadvantaged backgrounds.
Methods of torture include systematic beatings, electric shocks, water-boarding, asphyxiation, hitting with truncheons or similar objects and being threatened at gunpoint. Although the Philippines is bound by international and domestic law to prevent and investigate acts of torture and other ill-treatment, such practices are rife during arrests and interrogations in many police stations. The severely understaffed police force, assisted by auxiliaries, is predisposed to taking âshortcutsâ during arrests and investigations. A lack of forensic and investigative capacity and reliance on testimonial evidence, underlies the use of torture and other ill-treatment to extract âconfessionsâ, regardless of evidence or the truth of the matter. No perpetrator has ever been convicted of torture in court
One of the tanks used by Boko Haram to attack Amchide, 15-16 October 2014.
Contact Balkissa Ide Siddo ( [email protected] ) if you need further information about this image / campaign.
Illustration image depicting acts of torture committed in Police custody.
Anyone arrested on suspicion of criminal activity in the Philippines risks being tortured or ill-treated in police custody. Many victims are children and almost all are from poor and disadvantaged backgrounds.
Methods of torture include systematic beatings, electric shocks, water-boarding, asphyxiation, hitting with truncheons or similar objects and being threatened at gunpoint. Although the Philippines is bound by international and domestic law to prevent and investigate acts of torture and other ill-treatment, such practices are rife during arrests and interrogations in many police stations. The severely understaffed police force, assisted by auxiliaries, is predisposed to taking âshortcutsâ during arrests and investigations. A lack of forensic and investigative capacity and reliance on testimonial evidence, underlies the use of torture and other ill-treatment to extract âconfessionsâ, regardless of evidence or the truth of the matter. No perpetrator has ever been convicted of torture in court
