Anti-torture policy disseminated among jail officers nationwide
Balay’s advocacy to prevent torture of persons deprived of liberty has gained more traction with the formal turnover of the handbook on torture documentation, and reporting at the national headquarters of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) in Quezon City on April 7, 2016.
The turn-over activity coincided with the annual general gathering of all BJMP regional directors nationwide. Each of the regional officers have been given copies of the handbook to be distributed in more than 1,000 jails covered by their respective jurisdiction.
Balay Chairperson Corazon dela Paz and Program Supervisor, Carlo Ipac, represented Balay in the event. The handbook is one of the products of the BJMP-Balay engagement which was set out in their two-year memorandum of agreement. The handbook was printed with the support from Danish Institute against Torture (Dignity).
The handbook has laid down, among others, the legal and professional obligation of jail officers in screening and reporting possible cases of torture that may have been committed by police officers or jail personnel among persons under their custody.
A product of a series of consultation between the Balay officers and officials of the BJMP’s Directorate for the Inmates Welfare and Development (DIWD), the handbook also contains the step-by-step procedures how a jail health personnel may conduct torture screening for suspected torture victims. It included the various forms designed to facilitate the recording of the torture narrative and the physical and psychological signs of torture as well.
According to the BJMP head, J/CSUPT Deogracias Tapayan, the handbook will increase the knowledge of jail personnel about their role in torture prevention under the Republic Act 9745 or the Anti-Torture Act. He added that with the dissemination of the official anti-torture policy of the bureau will help strengthen their mission to promote ‘humane safekeeping and development” of detainees. He added that awareness on human rights could help discourage jail officers from committing excessive and unlawful use of force against inmates. They will also be able to contribute in torture monitoring as they are also mandated to report cases of torture committed by police officers against persons who are committed to jail facilities.
The BJMP Handbook will be made available for download online thru Balay and BJMP websites.