THE Commission on Human Rights (CHR) yesterday pressed for government transparency on the COVID-19 situation among persons deprived of liberty (PDLs) following the recent public outcry triggered by reports on the death of nine high-profile drug inmates due to the deadly virus.
In a statement, the CHR said it has sent to the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) as early as June 3 a team to inquire about deaths involving PDLs, the status of COVID-19 testing conducted among detainees, and the status of BuCor health personnel and facilities, among others.
The CHR said BuCor spokesman Gabriele Chaclag “was able to provide some responses, but the Commission still needs to coordinate with other agencies for other important concerns.”
It said it sent correspondences to the Department of Justice to request a list of PDLs on quarantine and who have died of COVID-19.
“Despite the lapse of over 15 days since then, the Commission has yet to receive a response. We call out the BuCor and the DOJ for their lack of transparency and non-cooperation,” said the CHR.
CHR said it has received complaints from relatives of PDLs but did not elaborate as to the nature of these complaints but said it would look into the grievances.
“In light of reported deaths of PDLs while in prisons and detention facilities, CHR calls for transparency and openness from the government in reporting the situation of PDLs in the country,” it said.
Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra decried it was unfair for the CHR to put the DOJ to task for its alleged lack of transparency and cooperation in relation to the release of information related to the COVID-19 situation among PDLs.
Guevarra said the information requested by the CHR is not with the DOJ since it is the BuCor who is the keeper of the official files and records of its inmates.
“The DOJ has been trying to uncover strange things happening at the BuCor. That’s why I have ordered the NBI (National Bureau of Investigation) to step in. It is not fair to say that the department has not been transparent about the conditions at the BuCor,” he said.
“This kind of information is available only from the primary source. The DOJ does not keep the official files of the BuCor or the personal records of the inmates,” he added.
Justice Undersecretary Deo Marco said his office has already sent the requested documents to the CHR via postal mail.
“As soon as I received the documents from BuCor, I forwarded it to CHR by mail. Usually it takes one week for the mail to be delivered,” Marco said, adding the documents were sent last week.
The BuCor has said that as of July 22, they have recorded 350 COVID cases among inmates and BuCor personnel.
Chaclag said of this, 260 are inmates with 232 recoveries and 21 deaths.
“Considering that we have more than 29, 000 PDL population, we can say that the number of those infected are really small. Likewise, all our regional prisons are COVID-free up to now,” Chaclag said.
Aside from the NBP, the BuCor also operates the Correctional Institute for Women in Mandaluyong city and five regional penal colonies–Iwahig in Palawan, San Ramon in Zamboanga city, Sablayan in Occidental Mindoro, Abuyog in Leyte and the Davao Penal Colony in Davao del Norte.
DATA PRIVACY ACT
Citing a recent pronouncement by the National Privacy Commission, the CHR said the Data Privacy Act “is not a cloak for denying the public’s right to know.”
“Public interest in the face of alleged deaths of high-profile inmates due to COVID-19, necessitates disclosure of relevant information about their deaths – both in the interest of justice, as well as in crafting sensible ways forward in preventing further deaths in prisons and detention facilities,” it said.
It said the need to protect the PDLs against further infection must prevail over concerns on privacy.
“Easily the most worrying aspect of nine apparently contemporaneous deaths from COVID-19 within the same facility is the risk of infection faced by both the community of PDLs and even the staff,” the CHR said.
“Devising or improving strategies to mitigate the spread of the virus becomes all the more imperative and in this case it is crucial to understand where the existing protocols and initiatives might have failed to curb the spread of the virus,” it added.
Citing existing laws such as the Anti-Torture Act of 2009, the CHR urged the government to respect its mandate to exercise visitorial powers over jails, prisons and detention facilities.
“This is a mandate that should not be ignored, especially by BuCor, BJMP (Bureau ofJail Management and Penology), as well as DOJ and the Department of the Interior and Local Government, for the sake of thousands of PDLs whose lives are at stake with the continuing risks of rampant infection,” it said.
“We urge the government to respect CHR’s mandate and work with us on an array of concerns, not only by the families of PDLs, but also their own personnel in different prisons and detention facilities across the country. CHR shall continue to pursue this issue, in persistent coordination with government, towards balancing the interest of justice and human rights,” it also said. — With Ashzel Hachero
