Soldiers pledge to end torture

MANILA, Philippines - Soldiers on Tuesday pledged to end torture, cruelty and other degrading punishment in a parade aimed at promoting awareness about the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).

The event was held at the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) Quadrangle in Quezon City and coincided with the National Human Rights Consciousness Week, which started Tuesday and will end on Dec. 10.

During the parade, soldiers led by Armed Forces Human Rights Office chief Brig. Gen. Domingo Tutaan Jr. recited Article 5 of the UDHR, which bans the use of torture and other forms of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

The soldiers from different major services were joined by representatives from the CHR and the Department of Justice.

“The Armed Forces of the Philippines assures the people that we will continue to defend and protect human dignity in all aspects of our operations,” Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) chief Gen. Jessie Dellosa said in a statement.

“We hope that through active participation with other stakeholders and civil society organizations, our efforts to advocate human rights will continue to bear fruit,” he added.

The military has been accused by activists of using torture to get confessions from suspected communist rebels.

Security officials, however, deny this, saying they always uphold human rights in all their operations.

The pledge against torture was held after the bike run and fun run held at the Quezon City Memorial Circle. About 2,000 representatives from the military, police, civilian agencies and civil society groups joined the said activities.

The runners and bikers also signed a commitment to promote and to adhere to existing laws that seek to promote human rights.

The theme of this year’s National Human Rights Consciousness Week is “My Voice Counts in Ending Impunity: I work for human rights-based governance.”

Other activities to be conducted during the week-long celebration include a roundtable discussion on the state of human rights in the Philippines and a music festival.

“The AFP had been doing similar efforts itself to manifest our dedication on human rights advocacy for we believe that it is one of the key in achieving a just and lasting peace for our country,” Tutaan said. – Alexis Romero