Government and human rights

Government and human rights "What would be the role of the Public Attorneys, the Prosecutors, the Commission on Human Rights and other agencies of the government in cases of human-rights violations? Inquiring MindDear Inquiring Mind, Philippine laws are crafted to protect human rights. There is much to do in the implementation of said laws, however. To address particular problem areas, the government created the Presidential Human Rights Committee (PHRC), which is under the executive department and tasked to formulate the National Human Rights Action Plan (NHRAP) and to coordinate with government agencies called upon to be able to come up with programs for effective promotion and protection of human rights. President Gloria Arroyo then issued Administrative Order 294 entitled “Strengthening Government Policies, Plans and Programs for the Effective Promotion and Protection of Human Rights.”Let it be emphasized however that despite the efforts of the government, we also have to share in the best possible way that we, too, can protect human rights. Protection of human rights is everybody’s concern. It is then important for us to know our human rights and the corresponding obligations—to respect, to protect and to fulfill. The obligation to respect is to refrain from doing acts that would interfere with these rights. The obligation to protect requires the state to enact laws as well as to create mechanisms to prevent human-rights violations either by the State authorities and/or agents as well as by non-state actors or state that did not ratify the treaty. The obligation to protect is an obligation of the state to facilitate the realization or enjoyment of these rights. Individuals, amid their claim to entitlement to human rights, are duty-bound to respect the human rights of others. The remedies available to individuals whose human rights are violated vary depending on the nature of the right that has been violated. For civil or political rights, remedies may be availed of through international bodies or tribunals or through the courts, quasi-judicial or administrative bodies. In the Philippine legal system, most human-rights violations are being prosecuted as criminal offenses under the Revised Penal Code or special laws. These cases are recognized by regular or special courts. The prosecution of criminal offenders of human rights lies within the jurisdiction of the Public Prosecutors upon complaint of the victims. But there are some cases against public officers that may also fall within the jurisdiction of the Ombudsman Prosecutors.The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) is an independent body created under the Constitution “to investigate on its own or upon complaint by any party, all forms of human-rights violations involving civil or political rights.” If the Commission later finds out upon investigation that human rights have been violated, it has to refer the matter to the Department of Justice (DOJ) for prosecution or to the concerned government office or agency for their proper action. Recently, the Public Attorney’s Office (PAO) was accorded investigative power in criminal complaints for torture. It was given the power to conduct prompt and impartial investigation on criminal complaints for alleged torture by virtue of Section 9 of Republic Act 9745 (Anti-Torture Act of 2009), which provides that a victim of torture shall have the right in the institution of criminal complaint for torture to have a prompt and an impartial investigation by the CHR and by the concerned government agencies such as the Department of Justice (DOJ), Public Attorney’s Office (PAO), Philippine National Police, National Bureau of Investigation and Armed Forces of the Philippines. These agencies are to conduct prompt and impartial investigation for a maximum of 60 working days from the time of the complaint of torture is filed.The assistance of the Public Attorney’s Office in cases of human-rights violations may be availed of for the filing of the proper complaint before the DOJ on behalf of the complainant against the alleged violator of human rights provided that it would be the first time for the complainant to avail of PAO’s services. The assistance from the Public Attorney’s Office is on a first-come-first-served basis to avoid any conflict of interest.Editor’s note: Dear PAO is a daily column of the Public Attorney’s Office. Questions for Chief Acosta may be sent to dearpao@manilatimes.net or via text message (key in: Times dearpao and send to 2299)." - https://www.affordablecebu.com/