A total of 13 lawyers from the National Union of People’s Lawyers (NUPL), Public Interest Law Center (PILC), Sentro para sa Tunay na Repromang Agraryo (SENTRA), and Pro Labor Assistance Center (PLACE) on Tuesday jointly called for accountability for “widespread rights violations” and “police brutality” in the mass arrests and subsequent detention of individuals who attended the September 21 mobilizations.
“As human rights lawyers, we stand with the victims and their families. We are prepared to pursue all available remedies against the police officers and officials responsible. We will also exhaust all possible avenues to ensure full accountability for these grave abuses,” the lawyers collectively said in a press release.
According to the NUPL, its team made visits to the Manila Police District (MPD) Headquarters and Police Stations 3 (Sta. Cruz), 4 (Sampaloc), 7 (Abad Santos), 10 (Pandacan), 11 (Divisoria), 12 (Delpan), and 13 (Baseco).
During which, they documented the following alleged “grave circumstances”:
- At least 216 individuals were arrested, including 91 minors, with the youngest only 9 years old
- The majority of the detainees had no organizational affiliations, with most coming from poor backgrounds
- Many were peaceful participants or mere bystanders who consistently and categorically denied inflicting any violence or damage to property
- Numerous accounts confirmed that individuals were simply fleeing for safety when they were apprehended, including a 13-year-old child arrested over a curfew violation, who remains in detention
- Physical abuse and torture were “widespread and systematic,” with an individual undergoing surgery for a fractured jaw at Jose R. Reyes Memorial Medical Center among those who displayed clear signs of injury
- Even children and minors showed several bruising marks on their faces and bodies
- At the police tent in Mendiola and the MPD facility, several detainees were forced to physically assault or restrain each other
- Families were pressured by police to coerce their children to admit to crimes they did not commit; those waiting outside the MPD were denied visitation rights, with many turned away and denied information as to the status of their missing family members
- Detainees were provided no food by the police, except for a few light snacks like biscuits, while drinking water was scarce; most only received food delivered by relatives
- Reports persist of individuals who remain missing after the September 21 mobilizations
“These grave violations of the Constitution, including unlawful arrest, physical abuse, and torture, are reprehensible and unacceptable,” the lawyers said.
“It is undeniable that many of those detained were arrested without legal basis. The police targeted them solely on the basis of their appearance and presence in the vicinity, even when they were not engaged in any criminal act. Such warrantless arrests cannot be justified under any lawful exception, rendering the September 21 police operations unconstitutional,” they added.
The legal practitioners likewise said that, contrary to the mandate of maximum tolerance, the police employed excessive force.
They claimed that cops deployed operatives in plainclothes, enlisted civilians to inflict harm against protestors and bystanders, subjected detainees to torture and “cruel, inhumane, and degrading” treatment.
“We strongly condemn the appalling conduct of the police. Their actions constitute not only grave violations of law but also direct affronts to the most basic principles of human rights and dignity,” the lawyers said.
