The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) raised grave concern on Wednesday over the reported “humiliating, degrading, and traumatic” strip searches on the wives of political prisoners and other visitors of persons deprived of liberty (PDL) at the New Bilibid Prisons (NBP) in Muntinlupa City.
The CHR said it has mobilized personnel from its Investigation Office and the Prevention Cluster to look into the issue and take appropriate actions.
The human rights body was responding to a problem raised by KAPATID—a support group for families of political prisoners—which received at least three different complaints about the strip searches being done on PDL visitors.
The complainants described the policy as “humiliating, degrading, and traumatic.” Some visitors were reportedly asked to bend over while being inspected, according to reports.
The CHR reminded the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) to improve its search guidelines, adding these “should not be applied arbitrarily and that searches should not be directed at the families of political prisoners.”
The same was communicated to BJMP on January 19, 2023 when the CHR received a similar incident report involving PDL visitors at Metro Manila District Jail Annex 4.
In light of these recurring incidents, the CHR reiterated some precepts under the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, or the Mandela Rules, which stated that security searches ‘shall not be used to harass, intimidate or unnecessarily intrude upon a prisoner’s privacy.’
“Intrusive searches shall be conducted in private and by trained staff of the same sex as the prisoners,” it added. The CHR called on the management of NBP, BJMP, the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) and other relevant agencies to take these complaints seriously.
“With these continuing acts of concerned security officers, we reiterate Rules 51 and 52(1) of the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, or the Mandela Rules, which state that security searches ‘shall not be used to harass, intimidate, or unnecessarily intrude upon a prisoner’s privacy’ and that ‘intrusive searches shall be conducted in private and by trained staff of the same sex as the prisoners,” it said.
“While we recognize the importance of maximum security inspection to ensure the safety and security of correctional facilities, it is vital that these security measures do not jeopardize visitors’ fundamental human rights. Inspections must be conducted in a way that respects the dignity, privacy and rights of all individuals involved,” the CHR said.
In response, the BuCor said it has relieved seven officers of their posts in connection with the strip search issue. Acting NBP Superintendent Ruben Formosa signed the order.