BuCor suspends strip search policy after visitors report abuse

MANILA, Philippines — The Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) has suspended its strip search policy for visitors of persons deprived of liberty (PDL) after wives of political prisoners recently reported undergoing "degrading and traumatic" searches. 

In a memorandum issued Friday, BuCor Director General Pio Catapang ordered the immediate suspension of strip search and cavity search of visitors of PDLs as part of its ongoing review of its procedures.

This follows the separate investigations launched by the Commission on Human Rights and the Department of Justice into the abuse reported by PDLs' visiting relatives, with Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla vowing to uphold the "highest degree of respect for human rights" in all correctional facilities.

JUST IN: The Bureau of Corrections have suspended strip and cavity search among visitors of persons deprived of liberty (PDL) following reported complaints of "degrading and traumatizing" strip searches on PDL wives. | @PhilstarNews pic.twitter.com/rIBR0BCuS5

— Ian Patrick Laqui (@IanLaquiPatrick) May 10, 2024

Kapatid, a support organization of families and friends of Filipino political prisoners, filed a formal complaint on Monday detailing the "dehumanizing" strip searches conducted on wives of political prisoners at the New Bilibid Prison on April 21.

Seven BuCor officers has since been relieved from their positions in connection to the strip searches.

Under the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners, or the Mandela Rules, security searches “shall not be used to harass, intimidate, or unnecessarily intrude upon a prisoner's privacy" and that "intrusive searches shall be conducted in private and by trained staff of the same sex as the prisoner.”

“The humiliating experience of the wives of political prisoners need to be investigated for outright violations of international and national laws governing the treatment of prisoners and visitors and violence against women as well as for brazen harassment,” Kapatid spokesperson Fides Lim said.