Police tortured suspect to admit complicity in Jolo bombings, rights group, lawyer say

From the Business Mirror (Feb 14, 2019): Police tortured suspect to admit complicity in Jolo bombings, rights group, lawyer say

One of the suspects arrested by the police in connection with the twin bombings in Sulu was allegedly tortured to admit the crime, his lawyer and human-rights group Karapatan claimed on Wednesday.

Lawyer Meltoni Sibuyan and Karapatan claimed that Mukammar Pae, an alleged member of the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) under Commander Hatib Hajan Sawadjaan, was tortured and subjected to water boarding just to admit his participation in the bombings. A form of water torture, waterboarding is carried out by pouring amounts of water over a cloth-covered face and breathing passages of an immobilized captive, causing the person to experience the sensation of drowning.

Philippine National Police chief Director General Oscar D. Albayalde said that Pae, who was arrested along with three others, aided the suicide bombers of the Jolo cathedral, which killed 23 people and wounded 95 others on January 27.

Albayalde said that an improvised explosive device and bomb components were also recovered by policemen when they searched Pae’s house in Sulu.

Sibulan claimed that Pae and his three other companions were tree cutters and lumberyard workers, who wanted to clear their name by turning themselves to the Army’s 35th Infantry Battalion in Sulu, which turned them over to the police.

“Immediately after, Pae was illegally arrested, tortured and detained. Sibulan added that his client was subjected to waterboarding,” Karapatan through its Secretary-General Cristina Palabay said in a statement.

“We agree with Atty. Meltoni Sibulan that this may be a masquerade to make the public believe that this is a closed case. [The] torture of innocent civilians [and] to use [them] as scapegoats reveal the extent of police brutality, incompetence, and deliberate violation of laws that safeguard against cruel and inhumane treatment,” Palabay said.

Karapatan called for an investigation into the allegations of torture.

https://businessmirror.com.ph/2019/02/14/police-tortured-suspect-to-admit-complicity-in-jolo-bombings-rights-group-lawyer-say/