KARAPATAN
welcomes the news that the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture
(OPCAT) is being sent by Malacañang to the Senate for ratification.
“For
a long time we have been urging the government to ratify the OPCAT as it offers
additional remedy to victims of human rights violations; we, therefore, call on
the Senate to ratify it as soon as possible,” said Marie Hilao-Enriquez,
secretary general of KARAPATAN.
KARAPATAN
welcomes the news that the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture
(OPCAT) is being sent by Malacañang to the Senate for ratification.
“For
a long time we have been urging the government to ratify the OPCAT as it offers
additional remedy to victims of human rights violations; we, therefore, call on
the Senate to ratify it as soon as possible,” said Marie Hilao-Enriquez,
secretary general of KARAPATAN.
The
Optional Protocol provides for the visit of places of detention in military
camps. If genuinely implemented the
protocol, in conjunction with thorough and effective investigation, prosecution
and punishment of violators is one of the ways that can end the culture of
impunity presently prevailing in the country.
The
rights group also notes that the belated sending by Malacañang of the OPCAT to
the Senate is one of the promises declared by Secretary Ermita to the Human
Rights Council during the Philippines Universal Periodic Review last April
11. Were it not for the Philippines UPR,
we wonder if the OPCAT would have been sent to the Senate. “That is why we hope that the Malacañang
action will not remain as a token gesture of the regime to show the
international human rights community that indeed the GMA administration protects
the rights of its citizens,” Hilao-Enriquez added.
If
ratified, we should monitor government’s compliance to the OPCAT. “There is a big difference between signing a
document and its implementation on the ground.
Compliance remains to be seen in actual practice. The citizens must ever be vigilant of their
rights and defend and protect these, “ said Hilao-Enriquez. “Ratification is a first step for State
parties to be made accountable for the violations, therefore we call on the
Senate to ratify the OPCAT now,” concludes Hilao-Enriquez.