Philippines pledged to sign a UN protocol that aims to prevent torture

According to the Associated Press, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo has promised to sign the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and other Crule, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. This protocol would allow for international inspections of detention facilities.

Human rights groups have urged the UN to take the Philippines to task for allegedly failing to prosecute soldiers suspected of involvement in a series of extrajudicial killings of left-wing activists.

Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita says President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo will soon order officials to take steps to formalize her government's accession to the United Nations' Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Cruel and Unusual Punishment.

The Jurist reminds us that the United States, Australia, China, and Israel are among the countries that have not signed this protocol.

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