Honor Pope Francis by ending torture

This week, people across the Philippines are incredibly excited about the visit of His Holiness Pope Francis.

Not only is this the first papal visit to our country in two decades, the Pope has also inspired millions of people all over the planet—Catholics and non-Catholics alike—with his message of hope, mercy and compassion for the world’s poorest people.

One of the issues that the Pope has spoken out about strongly and clearly continues to blight the Philippines. That issue is torture, which he condemned last year as a “very grave sin.”

His Holiness has repeatedly urged governments worldwide to stamp out this abhorrent practice and has “invite[d] Christians to commit themselves to work together for its abolition and to support victims and their families.”

Perhaps it is divine providence that torture was actually on the table of the Senate in the same week as the papal visit.

On Jan. 14, an inquiry into police torture was opened jointly by the Senate committees on justice and human rights and on public order. The investigation is a direct result of a report which the human rights organization Amnesty International released last December. As early as the 1970s, Amnesty International has campaigned internationally on behalf of Filipinos who are being subjected to human rights violations. During the martial law period in the Philippines, Amnesty International campaigned for the release of Benigno “Ninoy” Aquino Jr., President Aquino’s father, as a prisoner of conscience. A senator when he was arrested, Ninoy was detained incommunicado for long periods of time—a practice that amounts to torture.

Our recent report documented pervasive and rife torture in the Philippines, in particular in police detention, and the culture of impunity that allows perpetrators to get away with it.

Despite the Philippines’ ratification of two key international antitorture treaties, torture methods such as electrocution, mock execution, waterboarding, asphyxiating with plastic bags, beating and rape continue to be employed by officers who torture for extortion and to extract forced confessions.

Those responsible are almost never held to account, allowing this vicious cycle of abuse to continue unchecked. In 2009, the Philippines passed a progressive Anti-Torture Act, but it has been poorly implemented. It is telling that, more than five years since it was enacted, there has not been a single conviction under the law.

The simple fact is that no one who is taken into police detention is safe from torture, although those most at risk include police informants who “want out,” as well as repeat offenders and political activists. The majority of these people come from poor backgrounds.

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines has declared 2015 the “Year of the Poor,” partly in honor of the visit of Pope Francis, a known champion of the poor. It is important to remember that poverty does not just mean a lack of money, and that it is often society’s underprivileged who are most at risk of human rights violations, such as torture.

The Senate inquiry that was opened on Wednesday was announced on the very day Amnesty International’s report was launched. It is to the Senate’s credit that it has shown a willingness to tackle the issue and has taken Amnesty International’s report seriously.

The inquiry, if it is followed up with genuine action, could be the first step to ending torture in our country once and for all. What the Philippines needs is to back its legal commitments with decisive action. The government’s next step should be putting in place two truly independent systems—one for monitoring places of detention and one unified and effective institution to investigate and prosecute police abuse.

Crucially, those responsible for torture must be held to account. The government needs to send a clear message that no one is above the law.

The case of Darius Evangelista is as shocking as it is telling. Evangelista, a porter, was picked up by police in 2010, and his severed head was later found floating in Manila Bay. The case drew both national and international attention when a video surfaced of him being tortured by police. But despite uniformed police officers being clearly visible in this video, no one has been convicted in the case, and three of the seven officers implicated in his torture are still at large.

For too long, cases like Evangelista’s have been the norm in the Philippines. In many ways, he embodies the kind of people to whom Pope Francis shows mercy and compassion: the poor, the vulnerable, the victims of human rights violations. One of the best ways for the Philippine government to honor the Pope’s visit to our country is to genuinely make the effort to give justice to victims of torture and to stamp out this horrific practice once and for all.

Sr. Maria Vida Cordero, SFIC, chairs the board of trustees of Amnesty International Philippines.