Hinamon ni Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana ang US State Department na maglabas ng mga detalye at pruweba o ebidensiya na may pang-abuso sa karapatang pantao na ginawa ang mga security forces sa bansa.
Tinawag ng kalihim ang nasabing ulat na “witch hunt” kung saan ang kanilang akusasyon daw ay walang patunay.
“We question the State Department’s report of abuses by security forces. But since the state department seems so sure of its facts we challenge it to provide us with details so our Commission on Human Rights, a constitutional and independent body, can verify them, and if proven accurate, the perpetrators will be punished,” pahayag ni Sec. Lorenzana.
Dagdag pa ng kalihim, “absent these data the accusations are nothing but innuendos and witch hunt. At worst, the State Department has become a gullible victim of black propaganda.”
Binigyang-diin din ni Secretary Lorenzana na ang Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) ay pinili na isa sa “most trusted agencies of the government recently,” bagay na hindi makakamit kung may mga naitalang kaso ng pang-aabuso, torture at pagpatay ng mga tao.
Batay sa 2021 Country Report on Human Rights Practices, ang US State Department ay nakatanggap ng “credible reports” na may mga naitalang pang-aabuso ang mga miyembro ng security forces ng Pilipinas.
Kabilang dito ang mga sumusunod: “unlawful or arbitrary killings, including extrajudicial killings, by and on behalf of the government and non-state actors; reports of forced disappearance by and on behalf of the government and non-state actors; torture by and on behalf of the government and non-state actors; harsh and life-threatening prison conditions; (and) arbitrary detention by and on behalf of the government and non-state actors.”
