Tortured times SHE SAYS Dinah S. Ventura 08/23/2010

Tortured times

SHE SAYS Dinah S. Ventura 08/23/2010 Monsters of the highway causing hundreds of deaths and injuries... Buses falling off cliffs and snuffing one innocent life after another... Shootouts and bloody encounters that end up with alleged suspects dead, forever silenced... Police torture in the city, where the video of a naked man writhing in agony as he is trussed up, hit and his private parts tied draws a collective gasp from a nation that had begun to imagine itself immune to pain and suffering. But no one can be immune in these tortured times. Human errors causing untold tragedy, human negligence resulting in unexpected calamities, and plain inhumanity, such as those that are often just whispered about or never see the light of day – these are the true reasons there continues to be misery and disaster in the world we love to call “modern.” Following the release of a disturbing footage taken inside what appears to be the police community precinct in Asuncion, Tondo, a place described in the news as “crime-infested” and “plebeian,” government and concerned human rights bodies are adamant that action be taken to address the issue of human rights violations in our time. To date, 11 police officers including the main suspect, Asuncion PCP chief Senior Insp. Joselito Binayu, are being held by the authorities while investigations are done to “get to the bottom of the matter,” as some of these uniformed individuals are wont to tell media. According to reports, government has created “at least three separate bodies” to investigate that one video where a man suspected as a petty thief is seen in the hands of a torturer while others of his ilk watched. Now involved in this affair are the National Police Commission (Napolcom), the Philippine National Police (PNP), the Department Interior and Local Government (DILG) and the Commission on Human Rights (CHR).... MORE Source:  The Daily Tribune URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20100823com7.html

COMMENTARY EDITORIAL Hiding does not do Lacson good FRONTLINE Whither Lacson’s future? focus Mystery surrounds Mubarak Jr. ‘presidency bid’ DIE HARD III Was Ninoy’s death a US operation? focus Millions lack shelter after Pakistan floods HE SAYS Mamang Pulis SHE SAYS Tortured times