The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) has deplored the reported deaths of 1,166 inmates or persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) as a “cruel reality” taking place in the country’s correction facilities.
The deaths were the highest recorded by the Bureau of Corrections (Bucor) in 32 years. These are on top of the 700 PDLs who died in Bucor facilities from January to September this year.
“According to BuCor, the leading causes of death among PDLs were old age and sickness.
BuCor officer-in-charge General Gregorio Catapang Jr. pledged to review the data to determine if the prisoners’ deaths were COVID-19-related.deaths.
“These numbers depict a cruel reality for PDLs across the country,” the CHR stressed.
The Commission noted that “overcrowding of detention facilities—coupled with poor hygiene and ventilation issues—severely endangers the safety of PDLs and staff alike, even more so when there are imminent threats to their health because of a global pandemic.”
The untimely death could rob PDLs of due process and even hamper the delivery of justice for their victims, the CHR said.
“Such circumstances affect the justice system at large. If these continue to be neglected, the country may be at serious risk of betraying its international commitments, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR); the UN Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (UN CAT) and its Optional Protocol (OPCAT); and other international instruments protecting the rights of PDL,” the CHR pointed out.
The CHR also said that the Philippine government has the primary responsibility to ensure a humane correctional system that will guarantee the welfare of the PDLs.
It said the need for humane conditions is enshrined in the United Nations (UN) Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners (‘Mandela Rules’), the United Nations Rules for the Treatment of Women Prisoners and Non-custodial Measures for Women Offenders (‘the Bangkok Rules’), and the United Nations Rules for the Protection of Juveniles Deprived of their Liberty (‘the Havana Rules).
“The government must therefore take constitutional actionable steps towards the reformation and possible reintegration of PDL to mainstream society. However, present conditions, which imperil the lives of PDLs, fall short in compliance with these standards,” the CHR said.
The commission called on the government to establish a National Preventive Mechanism (NPM) through legislation to address conditions of PDLs that may be tantamount to cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment or torture.
At present, CHR serves as the interim NPM to usher the government’s compliance with UNCAT and its OPCAT.
Still, the CHR said such interim status for CHR as a NPM agency is not enough and that the government considers the passage of an NPM law as one of its priorities.
The CHR also joined the call for the granting of executive clemency for qualified detainees, especially the elderly and the ailing.
“The release of PDLs—provided that they have demonstrated good behavior, pose no threat to society, and meet the legal standards for clemency—will further the government’s decongestion efforts,” the agency said.
“We also urge the government for the immediate review of cases of individuals allegedly being targeted because of their political affiliations. We further recommend the need to prioritize and expedite decongestion efforts, consider the use of non-custodial alternatives to incarceration for nonviolent, non-serious offenders and uphold their fundamental right to a fair trial and speedy disposition of their cases,” it added.