Torture and detention of a pregnant woman

The International Secretariat of the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) requests your URGENT intervention concerning the following situation in the Philippines.

Brief description of the situation:

The International Secretariat of OMCT has been informed by Task Force Detainees of the Philippines (TFDP), a member of the OMCT network, about the arrest and alleged torture of a six-month pregnant woman, Ms. Marilou Aligato (29), by army members in Kananga, Leyte, Eastern Visayas.

According to the information received, on 7 November 2006, around 3:30 p.m., Ms. Marilou Aligato accompanied by her aunt, Ms. Bencia Aligato, and the latter’s 13-year-ord daughter, got off a bus at Kananga when suddenly a group of military men seized her. The men allegedly introduced themselves as troops of the 19th Infantry Battalion of the Philippine Army, covered her eyes with a piece of cloth and took her to the military headquarters at Barangay Aguitinh, Kananga.

There she was reportedly ill-treated while she was forced to reveal the whereabouts of her alleged companions of the New People’s Army (NPA). According to the information, one of the military men put a plastic bag over her head and tied it around her neck, and two other men identified as Hosena and Tapia hit her legs with weapons’ butts. She was also boxed in the chest by a man called Hamorawon and hit in the head and the back with guns by other soldiers.

According to the information received, Ms. Marilou Aligato was suspected of involvement in the killing of a soldier at Kananga Marked earlier that afternoon. She was kept in military custody for three days and sent to police custody at the Kananga Municipal Jail.

On 26 January 2007, Ms. Marilou Aligato was transferred to the Sub-Provincial Jail in Ormoc City, where she is reportedly in a small and crowded cell.

According to the information received, Ms. Aligato nearly lost her child as a result of the torture inflicted on her and still today she feels pain on her chest. As she is about to deliver, OMCT is seriously concerned for her health and her baby’s and recalls that in compliance with article 23.1 of the UN Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, “Arrangements shall be made wherever practicable for children to be born in a hospital outside the institution.”

OMCT further recalls that according to the Declaration on the Elimination of Violence against Women States shall “exercise due diligence to prevent, investigate and, in accordance with national legislation, punish acts of violence against women, whether those acts are perpetrated by the State or by private persons” (article 4.c).

Requested action:

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

1. ensure Ms. Marilou Aligato’s physical and psychological integrity and provide her with adequate medical attention;
2. ensure her immediate release in the absence of valid legal charges, and if such charges exist, ensure that she is given a prompt and fair trial, in which her procedural rights are guaranteed at all times;
3. carry out a prompt, thorough and impartial investigation into the alleged torture of Ms. Aligato, in order to identify all those responsible and to bring them to justice and apply the penal and/or administrative sanctions as provided by law;
4. more generally, ensure women the right to be free from discrimination, including violence, in line with the international laws and standards;
5. guarantee the respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms throughout the country in accordance with national laws and international human rights standards.

Addresses:

• Her Excellency Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, President, Republic of the Philippines, New Executive Bldg., Malacañang Palace Compound, J. P. Laurel St. San Miguel, Manila, Philippines. E-mail: opnet@ops.gov.ph, kgma@yahoogroups.com. Fax: (+63) 2 929 3968
• Atty. Teresita Lopez, Provincial Prosecutor, Provincial Prosecutor’s Office, Regional Trial Court, Tacloban City
• Atty. Paquito Nacino, Director, CHR Region VIII, 3rd Flr, R. Yu Salazar Annex Bldg, Salazar St., Tacloban City, Telefax: +63 53 321 3396
• Sec. Eduardo Ermita, Department of National Defense, Camp Aguinaldo, EDSA, 1110 Quezon City, Philippines, E-mail: snd@dnd.gov.ph, sndermita@dnd.gov.ph
• Hon. Primo Miro, Ombudsman of Visayas, Department of Agriculture Compound, M. Velez St. Cebu City, Tel: +63 32 2533195, Fax: +63 32 253 2976
• Sec. Raul Gonzales, Department of Justice, P. Faura, Ermita, 1004 Manila, Email: sechbp@info.com.ph
• Lt. Col. Lope C. Dagoy, Commanding Officer, 19th IB PA, 802nd Brigade, Barangay Aguiting, Kananga, Leyte
• Ambassador Enrique A. Manalo, Permanent Mission of the Philippines to the United Nations in Geneva, Avenue Blanc 47, 1202 Geneva, Switzerland, Fax: +41 (0)22 716 19 32, Email: mission.philippines@ties.itu.in
• Embassy of the Philippines in Brussels, Avenue Moliere / Molierelaan 297, 1050 Brussels, Belgium, Tel: +32 (0)2 340 33 77 / (0)2 340 33 78, Fax: +32 (0)2 345 64 25.

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

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Geneva, 29 January 2007.

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