MANILA: The Department of Justice (DOJ) on Thursday entered into an arrangement with partner institutions to establish standard investigation procedures for deaths of persons deprived of liberty (PDLs).
Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla, University of the Philippines (UP) Manila Chancellor Michael Tee, and United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Program Office in the Philippines Country Manager Daniele Marchesi signed the ‘Declaration of Cooperation to Strengthen Procedures to Investigate Custodial Deaths of PDLs.’
The declaration is in cognizance of the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, otherwise known as the ‘Nelson Mandela Rules,’ which ensures the management of prison facilities under the DOJ will be in accordance with international standards, good practices and competitive medical forensic expertise.
Under the declaration, the parties acknowledge the importance of the 2016 Revised United Nations Manual on the Effective Prevention and Investigation of Extra-legal,
Arbitrary and Summary Executions, also known as the Minnesota Protocol, to serve as a guiding document for the investigation of custodial deaths.
The DOJ, which committed to thoroughly investigate the deaths of PDLs under Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) custody in accordance with international standards and good practices, shall ensure the immediate transport in an appropriate and timely manner the PDL human remains who died within BuCor facilities in the National Capital Region (NCR) including Correctional Institution for Women (CIW) to the designated facilities of the UP Medicine that facilitates a high standard of autopsies and death investigation.
Meanwhile, UP which undertakes to provide technical expertise in the determination of the same, shall carry out autopsies on the bodies of deceased PDLs in accordance with international standards, among others.
UNODC, on the other hand, will provide vital technical assistance and normative support to assure collaborative efforts are maintained.
The parties als
o acknowledge the importance of the 2016 Revised United Nations Manual on the Effective Prevention and Investigation of Extra-legal, Arbitrary and Summary Executions, known as the Minnesota Protocol on the Investigation of Potentially Unlawful Death, as a guiding document for the investigation of custodial deaths.
The officials also said a credible standard procedure will help build the public trust of the government.
‘Our collaborative efforts with UP and the UNODC will be vital in ensuring that even our dead PDLs will be given justice, dignity, humane treatment and respect,’ Remulla said.
Meanwhile, forensic physician Raquel Fortun said a thorough examination of deaths of PDL not only rules out foul play but also uncovers and lingering health issues among the inmate population.
Fortun said deaths arising from tuberculosis, which is highly transmissible and fatal if untreated, has been recorded even among inmates as young as 31 years old.
BuCor Director General Gregorio Catapang Jr. welcomed the agreeme
nt on the new protocols on the handling of inmates who died inside corrections facilities while serving their sentences.
‘We at the BuCor welcome this development to give more transparency in determining the cause of death of PDLs under our care, and I recognized that PDLs shall be accorded with utmost respect for their rights and dignity especially at the time of death,’ Catapang said, adding that this broadened the procedures to investigate every PDL death that occurs within the correction facilities ‘without distinction whether the cause of death is natural or unlawful.’
He said before the signing of the declaration, the BuCor’s manual provides that unless claimed by relatives, ‘the body of a PDL who dies in the corrections’ facility may be turned over to an institution of learning or any scientific research center designated by the Secretary, for the purpose of study and investigation, provided that such institution shall provide a decent burial of the remains.’
Otherwise, the Bureau shall order the bu
rial of the body of the PDL at government expense, he said.
Based on BuCor data, for the last five years, there were about 4,636 registered deaths bureau-wide, including the 48 recorded deaths from January to June of this year who died of natural causes.
Source: Philippines News Agency
