1. Convention Against Torture
“When we torture, we are departing downward from humanity”
- Alexander Solzhenitsyn
A Russian Novelist who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in for his book Gulag Archipelago.

2. Crucifixion is a form of torture

3. Chevalet
Spanish Boot

4. Impalement
Breaking Wheel

5. Torture is a crime.
Torture is considered a crime under the international human rights law.
It is prohibited everywhere, at all times, and no exceptional circumstances whatsoever can be used to justify it.
However, the practice of torture continues unabated throughout the world including the Philippines.

6. UN CAT
The Convention against Torture is the most comprehensive international treaty dealing with torture.
CAT was adopted in 1984 and entered into force on 26 June 1987.

7. Philippine Response
The Philippines ratified the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT) in June 1986.

8. Philippine Response
The use of torture had been practice as a policy by security forces especially during the martial rule, against those dissenting against the regime.
Thus, when the 1987 Philippine Constitution was passed, it recognizes the freedom from torture under article 3 of the Bill of Rights.

9. Philippine Experience
However, torture continues to occur until now.
Wheel of Torture in Binan, Laguna

10. CAT Salient Provisions
The Convention against Torture sets out a definition of torture.
“Torture" refers to any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or her or a third person information or a confession; punishing him or her for an act he or she or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed; or intimidating him or her or a third person; or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind, when such pain or suffering is inflicted by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a person in authority or agent of a person in authority. It does not include pain or suffering arising only from, inherent in, or incidental to lawful sanctions.

11. 3 Elements
1 The actus reus or criminal act of inflicting severe physical or mental pain or suffering 2 The criminal purpose of extracting a confession or information, inflicting a punishment, intimidating or discriminating in any way 3 The criminal perpetrator who must be a person in authority or an agent of a person in authority, or a person acting at the instigation of, or with the consent or acquiescence of a person in authority or agent of a person in authority

15. CAT Salient Provisions
2. The Convention against Torture obliges States to take preventive measures.
“Each State Party has an obligation to take all necessary measures to prevent acts of torture. This includes legislative, administrative and judicial measures, as well as any other measures that may be appropriate. States are also obliged to prevent other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment in article 16.”
One way to prevent torture is the regular and unrestricted visit of an independent monitoring to places body where people are deprived of their liberty. This is the main aim of Optional Protocol to UNCAT (OPCAT).
Philippines has recently ratified the OPCAT on 17 Apr il, 2012.

16. Prohibited Forms of Deprivation of Liberty
secret detention,
solitary confinement,
held incommunicado,
And similar forms of detention

17. Mandatory System of Record Keeping
an inventory, updated and reported on a monthly basis, of all detention facilities under their supervision and the corresponding information of every prisoner or detainee.

18. CAT Salient Provisions
3. There is no justification for torture – ever.

19. CAT Salient Provisions
4. Non-refoulement
Returning a person to another state where there are substantial
grounds for believing that he would be in danger of being subjected to torture is prohibited.

20. CAT Salient Provisions
5. Specific crime of torture
It requires each State Party to ensure that torture is included as a specific crime in their national criminal law.
Philippines enacted the Republic Act No or the Anti-Torture Law in 2009 which criminalizes the act of torture.

21. CAT Salient Provisions
6. Universal jurisdiction
It obliges each State Party to establish its jurisdiction over persons found in its territory who are alleged to have committed the crime of torture, irrespective of whether the crime was committed outside its borders and regardless of the alleged perpetrator’s nationality, country of residence or absence of any other relationship with the country .

22. CAT Salient Provisions
7. Training officials
It requires States parties to take steps to ensure that all law enforcement personnel, medical personnel, public officials and others involved in the deprivation of liberty receive education and information on the prohibition and prevention of torture.
Human Rights Education
Istanbul Protocol and Torture Documentation
Rights based Prosecution
etc.

23. CAT Salient Provisions
8. Review of detention procedures
It requires to keep under systematic review interrogation rules, instructions, methods and practices, as well as custody procedures. These should comply with the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners and the United Nations Body of Principles for the Protection of All Persons under Any Form of Detention or Imprisonment.
Prison Reforms
Restorative Justice

24. CAT Salient Provisions
9. Prompt investigation
Each State Party must establish prompt and impartial investigations whenever there is reasonable ground to believe that an act of torture has been committed in any territory under its jurisdiction. This means that, even in the absence of a formal complaint, the relevant authorities must undertake an impartial, effective, independent and thorough investigation as soon as they receive information indicating any instance of torture or ill-treatment.
Such an investigation should include a thorough medical examination and other evidence based gathering methods following the international guidelines particularly the Istanbul Protocol.

25. CAT Salient Provisions
10. Inadmissible evidence
Any statements gathered as a result of torture must be deemed inadmissible in legal proceedings. This provision is extremely important because, by making such statements inadmissible in court proceedings, one of the primary aims of torture becomes redundant.
Non-admissibility of testimony, as being the fruit of the poisonous tree.

26. CAT Salient Provisions
11. Right of victims to complain and obtain redress
The Convention provides that victims of torture have the right to complain and to have their case investigated promptly and impartially , as well as to receive redress and adequate compensation.
This also includes the right to rehabilitation that is as full as possible.

27. Effects of Torture Torture and ill-treatment causes severe mental
And physical trauma on the victim. This trauma is often long lasting and may never fully disappear.
It also has impact on the enjoyment of a wide range of other economic, social and cultural rights.
Mental and physical consequences of torture may cause for the inability to study and obtain an
education, if the torture took place during imprisonment, valuable years of enhancing job.

28. Effects of Torture
Victims with physical and mental impairments will have difficulty in getting a job as well as in performing an array of job functions.
By loosing the ability to work, victims of torture easily end up in (further) poverty, by which they may be deprived of the underlying determinants of health such as; safe drinking water, adequate food and nutrition, housing and education.

29. Effects of Torture
Victims with physical and mental impairments will have difficulty in getting a job as well as in performing an array of job functions.
By loosing the ability to work, victims of torture easily end up in (further) poverty, by which they may be deprived of the underlying determinants of health such as; safe drinking water, adequate food and nutrition, housing and education.

30. Effects of Torture
These social effects of torture undermine the moral fiber of a society and creates a fear that prevents effective leadership and resistance in civil societies.
In this way, torture discourages citizens from engaging in public life and the fear it creates spreads throughout a victim’s social network.

31. Right to Rehabilitation
The right to torture rehabilitation is an integral part of the right to reparation guaranteed under international law specifically in Article 14 of the UN Convention Against Torture (UNCAT).
It is further clarified by the Committee against Torture when it issued the General Comment No. 3 in December This provides the normative framework of the right to rehabilitation.

32. Holistic Rehabilitation
It is an approach that encompasses coordinated and integrated cross-disciplinary services.
It is manifested through provision of treatment in the form of “integrated packages” tailored specifically to the “combination of factors” and needs
Therefore the requisite conditions needed to provide as full rehabilitation as possible to victims of torture and ill-treatment include: medical treatment (if necessary), combined with or followed by, a combination of psychological, social, communal, vocational, or legal services necessary for a maximum possible restoration of the victims to their pre-torture existence.

33. Comprehensive Rehabilitation Program for Torture Victims
Section 19 of the Anti-Torture Act mandates the formulation of a rehabilitation programme within one year of the law taking effect.
The Comprehensive Rehabilitation Program which was promulgated in March 2014 provides framework for rehabilitation including objectives, terms of reference of government agencies involved, and flowchart of its proposed operationalization.

34. Comprehensive Rehabilitation Program for Torture Victims
Institutional Responsibilities of
Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD)
a. Develop and conduct training programs for social workers and other service providers for the effective performance of their duties and responsibilities under the Act and these Rules with due consultation from trainers who have both theoretical and experiential knowledge on the subject.
b. Provide technical assistance to LGUs and NGOs in the implementation of the rehabilitation program specifically in the provision of psychosocial intervention to the victims of torture and their families and the perpetrators.

35. Comprehensive Rehabilitation Program for Torture Victims
Institutional Responsibilities of
Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD)
c. Assist the LGUs in providing gender-responsive case management and other trainings to ensure gender sensitive management of cases of victims of torture and perpetrators
d. In consultation with concerned agencies, develop, review and enhance the standards for centers and institution providing services for victims of torture and their families to ensure efficiency, effectiveness and accountability in the delivery of programs and services.

36. Conclusion
While ending the practice of torture is an obligation of the State under the international treaty and domestic laws, but it also has a responsibility to provide social services as an integral response to the needs of torture survivors.
These services are inter-connected with a survivor’s medical, mental health, legal and spiritual needs.
It is important for the provider to be aware of problems the survivor
may be experiencing in coping with their fundamental daily tasks. An interdisciplinary approach to services allows survivors to utilize
their inherent capacity for coping and healing.

37. End