Curiosity
Philippine cops use wheel of torture (PHOTO)
This undated photo released by the Philippine Commission on Human Rights (CHR) on January 28, 2014 shows a roulette wheel that was allegedly used to pick torture techniques meted out to prisoners in a house converted into a prison in Binan (CHR/AFP)
Manila, Philippines – It may be a dark vestige of the Ferdinand Marcos regime which brutally ruled the Philippines for decades until peaceful protests led to his abdication of power in 1986, but one thing is certain is that torture is commonplace for the Philippine police. Now, Amnesty International has exposed a commonly used device used by police to jazz up the torture of suspects during interrogation called the “Wheel of Torture”.
As in a manner similar to the show “Wheel of Fortune”, the dial is spun and based on where the pointer lands the suspect is meted out the selected torture. Some of the items were “30-second bat” which would result in the suspect being suspended by his feet for half a minute. Another torture was “20-second Manny Pacman” named after the nation’s legendary boxer Manny Pacquiao. Those whose lot was to get that treatment were used as human punching bags.
There were other “prizes” so to speak which were called “30-second duck walk” and “3-minute zombies”, but it is not clear what torture those names carried. The current president has vowed to eradicate such brutality, but the old ways aren’t so easy to abandon. The site of the torture is also a facility which detains suspects illegally.
“For police officers to use torture ‘for fun’ is despicable,” Amnesty International’s Hazel Galang-Folli said in a statement. “These are abhorrent acts. Suspending officers is not enough. Errant police personnel and their commanding officers should be held accountable in a court of law.”
According to the New York Daily News, Lawmakers enacted an anti-torture act in 2009 and the Philippines has ratified an international convention against torture.
“Despite these, the road ahead remains littered with the vestiges of this despicable practice,” Rosales said. The police abuse “offers a stark contrast between policy and practice. In many places, it seems torture is still considered SOP (standard operating procedure) by some law enforcement personnel,” she said.
On The Web:
Philippine cops use wheel of torture
http://www.news.com.au/world/philippine-cops-accused-of-using-wheel-of-torture/story-fndir2ev-1226812526206
Cops in the Philippines used sadistic ‘wheel of torture,’ activists charge
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/cops-philippines-sadistic-wheel-torture-activists-charge-article-1.1593619#ixzz2rnDApmT7