Guerrero said he believed the Committee would see through the ‘bunch of lies and pretensions’ that the Gloria Arroyo administration is employing to cover up its non-compliance to the Convention and other human rights instruments.
In an opportunity considered by Geneva-based human rights non-government organizations as “seldom or rare,” Manalo and Guerrero were allowed by the CAT to testify before the Committee. The two victims recounted their ordeal at the hands of state agents.
Questions left unanswered
Enriquez said the Committee members hurled questions to the Philippine delegation’s report ranging from extrajudicial killings, disappearances, the Human Security Act, command responsibility, impunity, exploitation of migrants, children and women to judicial procedure and mechanisms.
In her assessment, Enriquez said, “A lot of substantial questions specially coming from the Committee rapporteurs were not responded to by the panel. One is in the area of protection of human rights defenders and another is on administrative actions against erring elements of the AFP [Armed Forces of the Philippines] and the PNP [Philippine National Police].”
“What bothers me is their wrong interpretation of human rights and who is culpable if such is violated. The Philippine state is still hiding behind a narrow self-serving and even distorted understanding of human rights,” Enriquez added.
The only truth
“The only truth that has come out is the fact that the government has gone far away from complying with the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment which it acceded to in 1986,” the Philippine UPR Watch asserted.
Ambassador Erlinda Basilio, permanent representative of the Philippines to the UN in Geneva also apologized for having taken 20 years to submit a report to the Committee due to ‘natural and man-made calamities.’(Bulatlat.com)
