QuestionsQuestions (Republic Act No. 9745)
The short title is the “Anti-Torture Act of 2009.” The State policy is to value human dignity, guarantee respect for human rights (including suspects, detainees, and prisoners), prohibit physical/psychological/mental harm and acts impairing free will or demeaning dignity, prohibit secret detention/solitary/incommunicado forms where torture may be carried out with impunity, and adhere to the constitutional absolute condemnation and prohibition of torture and relevant international human rights instruments.
Torture is the intentional infliction of severe physical or mental pain or suffering for specific purposes (e.g., obtaining information/confession, punishing, intimidating/coercing, or for discrimination), when inflicted by or with the consent or acquiescence of a person in authority or agent of a person in authority. The “person in authority” element is central because the law penalizes torture only when done under authority/its agents or with their acquiescence; lawful sanctions that cause pain incidentally are excluded.
It is a deliberate and aggravated treatment or punishment not enumerated under Section 4, inflicted by a person in authority/agent against a person under custody, reaching a severity causing suffering, gross humiliation, or debasement. Unlike torture, it is not limited to the specific purposes and illustrative acts listed under “torture,” though it still requires authority/agent infliction and a certain level of severity.
It refers to acts by a person in authority/agent calculated to affect or confuse the mind and/or undermine dignity and morale, such as blindfolding, threatening the person or relatives with bodily harm/execution, confinement in solitary cells/secret detention, prolonged interrogation, denial of sleep/rest, and deliberately prohibiting communication with family.
No. Section 6 declares an absolute right: torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment can never be justified. A state of war, internal political instability, public emergency, or an “order of battle” document/determination cannot be invoked to justify torture.
Secret detention places, solitary confinement, incommunicado, or other similar forms of detention where torture may be carried out with impunity are prohibited (Section 7). Law enforcement agencies must maintain and publish updated lists of detention centers and detainees, and submit copies to the CHR with periodic monthly updates.
PNP, AFP, and other law enforcement agencies must create and keep updated lists of detention centers/facilities and detainees (names, date of arrest/incarceration, crime/offense), make these lists available to the public at all times, provide complete copies at their national HQ, and submit copies to the CHR, updated at least within the first five (5) days of every month. Regional offices must similarly maintain public lists and submit updated copies to the respective regional CHR offices.
Any confession, admission, or statement obtained as a result of torture is inadmissible in evidence in any proceeding, except if used as evidence against a person(s) accused of committing torture (Section 8).
A victim has the right to prompt and impartial investigation (by CHR and government agencies such as DOJ, PAO, PNP, NBI, AFP) with reports/resolutions made available, and appeals resolved within the same period prescribed. The victim also has protection from harassment/threat/intimidation as a consequence of filing the complaint/evidence presentation, including state security for safety of the victim, lawyer, witnesses, and relatives, and protection in testifying to avoid further trauma.
If filed on behalf of the victim of torture (or other cruel, degrading, inhuman treatment), the proceedings must be disposed of expeditiously. Any order of release or other appropriate court order relative thereto must be executed/compiled immediately (Section 10).
Before and after interrogation, every person arrested/detained/under custodial investigation has the right to be informed of the right to demand physical examination by an independent competent doctor of the person’s own choice. If the person cannot afford, the State must provide a competent independent doctor; psychological evaluation may be provided if available, with female doctor preference for female detainees. There is also the right to immediate access to adequate medical treatment.
The medical report must be signed by the attending physician and include detailed medical history and findings, be attached to the custodial investigation report, and include required data (patient/victim details, nearest kin, examiner/presenter, nature/probable cause and timing/place of injuries or trauma, necessary treatment time/date, diagnosis/prognosis/disposition). It is considered a public document.
Principal liability covers those who actually participated or induced another, or cooperated by previous/simultaneous acts. Superior officers who issued orders to commit torture are held equally liable as principals. Immediate commanding officers/senior public officials are liable as principals for acts/omissions/negligence leading to torture by subordinates when they had knowledge or should have known and failed to prevent or investigate despite authority to prevent/investigate. Accessory liability exists for those who, with knowledge, take part after commission by profiting, concealing/destroying effects/instruments, or harboring/concealing/assisting escape, done with abuse of official functions.
Torture resulting in the death of any person is punished with reclusion perpetua (Section 14). Acts of mental/psychological torture resulting in insanity, complete or partial amnesia, fear of becoming insane, or suicidal tendencies due to guilt/worthlessness/shame are punished with reclusion temporal (Section 14).
Torture does not absorb or get absorbed by any other crime or felony committed as a consequence or as a means of committing that other offense. Torture is treated as a separate and independent criminal act whose penalties are imposable without prejudice to other criminal liabilities.
Persons who committed any act of torture shall not benefit from any special amnesty law or similar measures that would exempt them from criminal proceedings/sanctions (Section 16). On refoulement, no person shall be expelled, returned, or extradited to another state where there are substantial grounds to believe they will be in danger of being subjected to torture; DFA and DOJ in coordination with CHR consider relevant factors such as consistent patterns of gross/flagrant/mass human rights violations (Section 17).