Karapatan: DND, police guidelines no assurance vs martial law abuse

MANILA, Philippines – Rights group Karapatan doubts the martial law guidelines released to the police and military will curb abuses, saying security forces have poor human rights records  

Karapatan Secretary-General Cristina Palabay said that the guidelines released by the Department of National Defense and the Philippine National Police are “hypocritical” since “[they] themselves are the violators of people’s civil and political rights.”

The group is against the implementation of military rule in Mindanao.

The DND last Thursday issued a memorandum to the Armed Forces of the Philippines, reminding troops that any arrests, searches or seizures must follow "the Revised Rules of Court and applicable jurisprudence." This, despite President Rodrigo Duterte saying warrantless searches and arrests will be allowed.

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READ: DND reminds AFP: Enjoin human rights in Mindanao

"In this connection, the AFP and all bureaus and agencies of this department are hereby enjoined that the rule of law and human rights should prevail in the place or part of the Philippines where the Martial Law was declared and effective," the DND memo read. 

The PNP, for its part, released a list of do’s and dont's in the implementation of martial law, including the order to respect human rights and dignity of the suspect, as well as the strict observance of Republic Act No. 7438 (Rights of Persons Arrested, Detained or under Custodial Investigation) and provisions of Republic Act No. 9745 (Anti-Torture Act of 2009).

Karapatan: We cannot be assured by the guidelines

“We cannot be assured by the guidelines released by the DND and PNP… at the end of the day, such guarantees come off as hypocritical when contrasted with the human rights records of the military and police,” Palabay said.

The group pointed out initial reports of incidents of harassment following the proclamation of martial law.  Karapatan said 30 women were interrogated for an hour by members of  the 6th Marine Battalion Landing Team in Brgy. Domulon, Palimbang, Sultan Kudarat on May 25.

On the same day, Task Force Davao and the Davao City police, Senior Superintendent Alex Tagum, reportedly rounded up some 250 individuals for questioning because they did not have IDs.

“The authorities have already started playing a semantics game, saying that those rounded up are not ‘under arrest’ but are detained pending verification processes. Nonetheless, such incidents are already a prelude to more abuses,” the Karapatan secretary-general said.

Different local government units have put in place tighter security measures in response to the declaration of martial law and the clashes in Marawi City that led to the declaration. Cotabato City has, for example, has expanded its curfew to include adults. Iligan City has also reportedly been requiring everybody entering the city to present proper identification.

Palabay believes that the martial law will result in more human rights abuses similar to what happened during military rule under President Ferdinand Marcos in the 1970s.

“This country has seen the excesses of too much power handed to the executive and State security forces, and the least we want is a repeat of those abuses. The PNP and AFP said that there would be no warrantless arrests yet, it has been among these institutions’ practice throughout regimes,” said Palabay.