[child-rights] Philippines: Second update about children detained in inhuman conditions of detention

CHILD CONCERN
Case PHL 080702.2 CC
Follow up to Case PHL 080702.1 CC and PHL 080702.CC
Arbitrary Detention / Torture and other forms of ill-treatment


Geneva, 23 July 2002

The International Secretariat of OMCT has received new information
regarding the following situation in the Philippines.

New information

The International Secretariat of OMCT has been informed by a reliable
source that Michael Navarro Garcia was released from Angeles Adult
Jail in Pampanga after awaiting trial for three months on charges of
participation in illegal lotteries. He reportedly pled guilty to the
offence and was released at an unconfirmed date (sometime after 8
July 2002) after paying a fine equivalent to six US dollars.

The same source also reported that the Family Court in Angeles City
had dismissed the case of Camaroding Ajisalie as early as 3 April
2002, after issuing a court order to have him transferred to a drug
rehabilitation centre. However, Camaroding was not made aware of this
order or of the results of the proceedings, and was held in Angeles
Jail for more than three months with convicted adults despite the
court order issued in April. He was not transferred to the drug
rehabilitation centre until 5 July 2002.

Furthermore, according to the information received, a court order was
issued on 14 June 2002 for the immediate release of Felix Cusipag and
Manuel Flores to either their respective parents or the Bahay Bata
Centre (NGO). However, Felix was detained at Angeles Jail for 15 days
beyond the issuance of the court order, and was not released to his
parents until 29 June 2002. Similarly, Manuel was detained at Angeles
Jail for 21 days beyond the issuance of the court order, and was
released to the Bahay Bata Centre on 5 July 2002.


Brief reminder of the situation

The International Secretariat of OMCT had been informed by a reliable
source that four children had been arbitrarily arrested and were
detained in conditions incompatible with international juvenile
justice law and standards.

Despite existing juvenile detention facilities in the district, such
as the care institution of the Department of Social Services and
Development, Manuel Flores (10), Felix Cusipag (12), Camaroding
Ajisalie (17) and Michael Navarro Garcia (17) were kept in the same
prison block as adult detainees and it had been reported that no
effort had been made to treat them differently because of their age.

Allegedly, the four children were detained 23 hours a day in a small
dark and very hot cell with no sleeping facilities apart from the
concrete floor. There was no electric fan and no ventilation in the
cell. All of them were wearing rags. They ate their food with their
hands, as there were no utensils provided. They did not have
toothbrushes or soap.

According to the information received, the only toilet facility was
an unclean hole in the floor of the cell, infested by insects, only a
few feet from where the children slept. In addition, they did not
have water for washing in the cell.

Apart from a small television outside their cell, the children were
provided with no educational, mental or physical stimuli.

Action Requested

While welcoming the release of Michael Navarro Garcia as the last of
the four children detained, OMCT remains deeply concerned with this
situation. OMCT is particularly concerned with the fact that children
as young as ten years of age have been detained in an adult prison in
unsanitary conditions for extended periods of time despite the prior
issuance of court orders demanding their release.

Please write to the authorities in the Philippines urging them to:

i. immediately put an end to all forms of arbitrary arrests of
children (any persons below the age of 18), prohibiting, in
particular, that status offences, such as vagrancy, be considered as
legal grounds of arrest;
ii. take all necessary measures to guarantee the physical and
psychological integrity of all child detainees, ensuring in
particular their rights to adequate food, accommodation and
sanitation, to education and leisure, to maintain contact with their
families, and to sufficient access to open facilities;
iii. ensure that child detainees are kept separately from adults,
unless it is in their best interest not to do so;
iv. guarantee the right to adequate reparation and social
reintegration to ill-treated children;
v. guarantee the respect of human rights and fundamental liberties of
all children throughout the country, in accordance with national and
international law, and particularly with the Convention on the Rights
of the Child.

Addresses:

- Her Excellency Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, President of the
Philippines, Malacaņang Palace, JP Laurel Street, San Miguel, Manila
1005, Fax: +632 736 1010, 733-2107, Email: pgma@compass.com.ph or
opnet@ops.gov.ph
- Hon. Hernando Perez, Secretary, Department of Justice, DOJ
Building, Padre Faura, Manila 1004, Fax: +632 521 1614
- Hon. Jose C. De Venecia, Jr., Speaker of the House of
Representatives, Batasan Complex, Constitution Hills, Quezon City
NCR, Fax:(2) 931 5556
- Franklin M. Drilon, Senate President, Rm 606, 6th Floor, Senate of
the Philippines, Roxas Blvd., Pasay City Philippines, Fax:(2) 552
6876, Email: fmd@sendrilon.org.ph

Please also write to the embassies of the Philippines in your
respective country.

Geneva, 23 July, 2002

Kindly inform us of any action undertaken quoting the code of this
appeal in your reply.