By Chito Chavez Human rights group Karapatan on Tuesday cited the recommendation of the House Committee on Justice for the release of sick and elderly prisoners as the country is faced with the challenge of the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Karapatan secretary-general Cristina Palabay expressed hope that the recommendation will be heeded as this will help decongest the country’s overcrowded jails. The group stressed that political detainees, most especially the sick and elderly, should be granted release on humanitarian grounds. While the group welcomes the recommendations for the temporary release of the prisoners, Palabay has called on the concerned agencies “to act fast on these recommendations.’’ “We are racing against a time bomb and with every day that passes where vulnerable detainees are kept behind bars, the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic grows deadlier in our congested prisons,’’ Palabay said. She asserted that the government has a duty to uphold the life and security of prisoners “and we cannot afford to lose more lives.” Karapatan noted that various local and international human rights groups have called on the Philippine government to release vulnerable prisoners, including political prisoners, following the urgent appeal of United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet. Citing the release of prisoners in Iran, Germany and the United States to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 in overcrowded detention facilities, Karapatan noted the House Justice Committee recommended temporary release for first-time offenders, those who are 60 years of age and above, those with underlying health conditions associated with high risk of severe symptoms of COVID-19, among others. Karapatan said the recommendations have also been backed by the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD). Karapatan bared that the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) reported a 450 percent jail congestion rate nationwide with 380 out of 467 detention facilities in the country filled beyond capacity as of October, 2019. According to Karapatan’s data, as of March 28, 2020, there are 609 political prisoners currently imprisoned in the various detention facilities in the country. The group’s report said that out of the 609 political prisoners, 100 are women, 47 are elderly, while 63 suffer from serious ailments and debilitating illnesses. In a joint statement urging governments to protect civil and political rights in responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, 33 international human rights and civil society organizations also called for the easing of “pressure on the prison system and lower the risk to the health of the prison population, and the population more broadly, by releasing detainees, and in particular immediately and unconditionally releasing all human rights defenders and prisoners of conscience who were imprisoned for their human rights activities, or for expressing critical views”. Palabay called on the government to ensure that all measures adopted in response to the COVID-19 pandemic are compliant with international human rights obligations.