DOJ, CHR launch guidebook on human rights cases

MANILA, Philippines - A guidebook for public prosecutors handling cases of human rights violations has been launched.

It is a project of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR), the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the University of the Philippines Law Center’s Institute for the Administration of Justice (UP-IAJ).

CHR chair Loretta Ann Rosales said public prosecutors bear a responsibility no different from the duty of every justice sector actor to advance the human rights and fundamental freedom of every person.

“For a long time, however, the prosecution service has been criticized for a perceived ineffectual response to the spate of extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearance and torture, thereby contributing to a climate of impunity,” she said.

Rosales said this has led to several bills in Congress seeking to vest prosecutorial authority on human rights violations upon the CHR.

“While not necessarily rejecting the notions of concurrent and residual prosecutorial authority, the commission is keen on working with the DOJ on developing practice manuals on human rights for the members of the National Prosecution Service by way of in-service training,” she said.

“This guidebook focuses on the legal regime applicable to the investigation and prosecution of cases of extrajudicial killings, torture and enforced disappearance.”

UP-IAJ director Rowena Amelia Guanzon, an expert in human rights litigation, headed a team that managed the guidebook’s development process.

The guidebook’s soft launch was held last Dec.10 on the occasion of International Human Rights Day.