The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) is “gravely alarmed” over the high number of deaths of persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) in the prison facilities managed by the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor).
It said that BuCor’s 2021 data reveal that 1,166 PDLs out of the total 48,501 inmates died within correctional facilities. This accounts for the highest figure in 32 years, it said.
It added that the trend seemed to continue as there have already been more than 700 PDLs who died in BuCor’s custody as of September 2022. The CHR said this is tantamount to three to four PDL-deaths every day.
It quoted from BuCor’s data that the leading causes of deaths among PDLs were old age and sickness. BuCor Officer-in-Charge Gregorio Pio Catapang Jr. said that they will review the data to determine Covid-19-related deaths.
“These numbers depict a cruel reality for PDLs across the country,” the CHR said in a statement.
“CHR has always maintained that the 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,” it said.
Sadly, the CHR said that these untimely deaths may likely rob the PDLs of due process and even halt the progress of justice for their victims.
“Such circumstances affect the justice system at large,” the CHR said. If these continue to be neglected, it warned that the country may be at serious risk of betraying its international commitments -- 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.
“Mindful of these human rights obligations, CHR also continues to urge the Philippine 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,” it added.
For its part, the CHR said it will remain faithful to its mandate of improving the human rights conditions of PDLs by conducting jail visitations and recommending alternatives to incarceration for nonviolent, non-serious offenders.
At the same time, the CHR is calling for expedited decongestion efforts and the grant of clemency for qualified detainees, particularly the elderly and the sick.
“The release of PDLs—provided that they have demonstrated good behavior, posed no threat to society, and met the legal standards for clemency—will further the government’s decongestion efforts,” the CHR said.
“Finally, CHR reminds the government of its obligation to treat all prisoners with respect for their inherent dignity and value as human beings,” it added.
TAGS: #CHR #BuCor deaths #PDLs