Torture vid causes outrage

MANILA - THE Philippines' independent rights body launched a probe into the national police on Wednesday amid public outrage over a video showing an officer torturing a naked man.

The graphic video, which ABS-CBN television said it obtained from an unidentified informant who recorded it on a cellphone, showed the officer in civilian clothes whipping the man with what appeared to be a stick. A rope appeared to be tied to the victim's penis, which the torturer would yank in between blows to the body.

'This is very disturbing. They treated him worse than an animal,' said Coco Quisumbing, chairman of the country's Commission on Human Rights, who had reviewed the clip.

'This is the very first time that this happened (actual torture caught on video) and it is groundbreaking.' 'Police should now submit to our investigation in a timely manner,' she said on ABS-CBN's radio affiliate.

While allegations of torture and extra-judicial killings carried out by police and military are nothing new, Tuesday's airing of the video was the first time such an incident was shown on public television. ABS-CBN did not say when it took place, and the fate of the victim was unclear.

Manila police commander Chief Superintendent Rodolfo Magtibay confirmed that the torturer was a police officer who had since been relieved of his post and was now under investigation related to possible criminal charges. 'There is no place for a policeman like that,' he said.


(2010-08-18/StraitsTimes)