Necessary roughness
We are no stranger to a policeman’s “necessary roughness” especially when arresting suspects. We’ve seen it in movies, learned about it in newspapers or in the evening news. If criminals resist capture an acceptable amount of force may be used. Fair enough – necessary roughness is essential to police work.
But necessary roughness can easily turn into brutality when a policeman’s action turns from push to shove. Policemen could manhandle suspects that are difficult to restrain. They can also employ tough talk (in many cases with expletives) during an investigation to psyche up the suspect into admission – a violation of rights as even the most criminal of criminals, is still entitled to a lawyer.
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Policemen are under pressure to produce “results” in their investigation hence they find creative ways of “stimulating” the suspect into admission or sharing information. Precinct-level police torture is born. Precinct-level police torture is rather extreme although to say it is not happening rampantly, is illusory.
Police torture is a well-hushed, regular occurrence brought to forth to public view recently with the advent of mobile cameras and indiscriminate sharing via social networking sites.
Months ago I received a Facebook link showing two teen-aged petty criminals arrested by the police. The investigating officer (with his perverted methods of stimulation) ordered the two to kiss each other torridly or they will be hurt (as though their bloody faces and inflamed lips are not yet an indication of severe mauling already). The boys were nauseated over their kissing scene but fear got the better of them hence their tearful compliance.
The entire exercise was not even aimed at “getting a confession” or bringing out information in aid of investigation. It was done merely to crush the spirits of the suspects. More than its attendant physical pain – torture consumes one’s dignity.
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Last week, we showed TV footage of a petty criminal stripped of his clothes while his genitals were tied with a rope which a policeman pulled to inflict indescribable physical pain and humiliation. That story drew public outrage, sparked a Commission on Human Rights investigation and elicited strong condemnation from the highest ranks of the Philippine National Police which repeatedly described the incident as extreme and isolated.
While not all policemen are savages, torture being dismissed as an occurrence of extreme probability in our police precincts is really debatable. Torture does happen with random regularity in many police precincts today. We journalists have seen the “mean bone” of some of our policemen as they exercise “necessary roughness” in the conduct of their jobs. What are the chances of “necessary roughness” leveling up to torture?
The torture victim in the now infamous Asuncion Community Precinct torture video had no inkling at that time that he would become the poster boy for police brutality and torture. His death is not in vain.
Even his alleged ruthless tormentor Joselito Binayug never thought he would become the icon of this extremely rare breed of policeman the PNP intends to exterminate from the ranks.
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Now considered a wake-up call for a more belligerent human rights advocacy in the Philippines, the Asuncion precinct torture video will go down in history as proof of claims that the Philippines has one of the meanest police forces in the world.
The Hong Kong-based Asian Human Rights Commission believes some form of torture is really part of the national police’s standard operating procedure, which also happens to be common than rare.
“This is not an isolated case…. This is rather an unwritten policy that is heavily embedded and well-practiced in the minds of the police in investigating and preventing crimes,” the group said.
Another human rights group, Amnesty International, throws back the challenge to the new Aquino administration to enforce existing anti torture laws in the country. Amnesty International notes, while the Anti Torture Law is in place and while incidents of torture are prevalent it has yet to see a prosecution.
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Torture is nowhere to be found in a policeman’s textbook. It is not taught during training. Sadly it is learned on the job and rampant, more than we realize it. That’s why other victims of police brutality should now come out in the open and share their stories while the nation is awakened and outraged.
The PNP should also take its campaign beyond Joselito Binayug and begin to seriously professionalize its ranks. Torture is a manifestation of sloppy police work by law enforcers who could not get a confession or information any other way. We don’t waste taxpayers money to pay the inept.
Ridding the organization of torturers does not only exonerate their victims – it pays honor to the other noble law enforcers who get the job done armed only with skill, competence, and compassion.*
