ICC VERSUS IHL

The International Criminal Court (“the ICC” or “the Court”) is a permanent international

court established to investigate, prosecute and try individuals accused of committing the most
serious crimes of concern to the international community as a whole, namely the crime of
genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes.

Origin and purpose of the International Criminal Court. Established in 2002, the International

Criminal Court (ICC) is an institution to ensure that crimes against humanity and mass atrocities do not occur
with impunity.

The International Criminal Court (ICC), governed by the Rome Statute, is the first permanent, treaty-
based, international criminal court established to help end impunity for the perpetrators of the most serious
crimes of concern to the international community.

The ICC is an independent international organisation, and is not part of the United Nations system.

Its seat is at The Hague in the Netherlands. Although the Court’s expenses are funded primarily by
States Parties to the Rome Statute, it also receives voluntary contributions from governments, international
organisations, individuals, corporations and other entities.

The international community has long aspired to the creation of a permanent international court and,
in the 20th century, it reached consensus on definitions of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.

The Nuremberg and Tokyo trials addressed war crimes, crimes against peace, and crimes against
humanity committed during the Second World War.

In the 1990s after the end of the Cold War, tribunals like the International Criminal Tribunal for the
former Yugoslavia and for Rwanda were the result of consensus that impunity is unacceptable. However,
because they were established to try crimes committed only within a specific time-frame and during a specific
conflict, there was general agreement that an independent, permanent criminal court was needed.

On 17 July 1998, the international community reached an historic milestone when 120 States adopted
the Rome Statute, the legal basis for establishing the permanent International Criminal Court.

The Rome Statute entered into force on 1 July 2002 after ratification by 60 countries.

The ICC has jurisdiction over the most serious crimes of concern to the international community as a
whole, namely genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, when committed after 1 July 2002, as well
as the crime of aggression, as of 17 July 2018, under specific conditions and procedures.

Each of these crimes is clearly defined in the Rome Statute and other relevant texts. The Court may
exercise jurisdiction over such international crimes only if they were committed on the territory of a State
Party or by one of its nationals.

These conditions, however, do not apply if a situation is referred to the Prosecutor by the United
Nations Security Council, whose resolutions are binding on all UN member states, or if a State makes a
declaration accepting the jurisdiction of the Court.

The Court is intended to complement, not to replace, national criminal justice systems.

It can prosecute cases only if national justice systems do not carry out proceedings or when they claim
to do so but in reality are unwilling or unable to carry out such proceedings genuinely.

This fundamental principle is known as the principle of complementarity. The Prosecutor can initiate
an investigation or prosecution in three different ways:

(1) States Parties to the Statute of the ICC can refer situations to the Prosecutor;
(2) the United Nations Security Council can request the Prosecutor to launch an investigation;
(3) the Office of the Prosecutor may initiate investigations proprio motu (on its own initiative) on
the basis of information received from reliable sources. In this case, the Prosecutor must seek
prior authorisation from a Pre-Trial Chamber composed of three independent judges.
 International Humanitarian Law

What is International Humanitarian Law? What is international humanitarian law?

International humanitarian law is a set of rules which seek, for humanitarian reasons, to limit the
effects of armed conflict. It protects persons who are not or are no longer participating in the hostilities and
restricts the means and methods of warfare.

International humanitarian law is also known as the law of war or the law of armed conflict.
International humanitarian law is part of international law, which is the body of rules governing relations
between States.
International law is contained in agreements between States – treaties or conventions –, in customary
rules, which consist of State practise considered by them as legally binding, and in general principles.
International humanitarian law applies to armed conflicts. It does not regulate whether a State may
actually use force; this is governed by an important, but distinct, part of international law set out in the United
Nations Charter.

Where did international humanitarian law originate?

International humanitarian law is rooted in the rules of ancient civilizations and religions – warfare
has always been subject to certain principles and customs.
Universal codification of international humanitarian law began in the nineteenth century. Since then,
States have agreed to a series of practical rules, based on the bitter experience of modern warfare.
These rules strike a careful balance between humanitarian concerns and the military requirements of
States. As the international community has grown, an increasing number of States have contributed to the
development of those rules. International humanitarian law forms today a universal body of law. Where is
international humanitarian law to be found?
A major part of international humanitarian law is contained in the four Geneva Conventions of 1949.
Nearly every State in the world has agreed to be bound by them. The Conventions have been developed and
supplemented by two further agreements:
(1.) the Additional Protocols of 1977 relating to the protection of victims of armed conflicts.
(2.) Other agreements prohibit the use of certain weapons and military tactics and protect certain
categories of people and goods.

These agreements include:

1. the 1954 Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict, plus its
two protocols;
2. the 1972 Biological Weapons Convention;
3. the 1980 Conventional Weapons Convention and its five protocols;
4. the 1993 Chemical Weapons Convention;
5. the 1997 Ottawa Convention on anti-personnel mines;
6. the 2000 Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of
children in armed conflict.
Many provisions of international humanitarian law are now accepted as customary law – that is, as
general rules by which all States are bound.

When does international humanitarian law apply?

International humanitarian law applies only to armed conflict; it does not cover internal tensions or
disturbances such as isolated acts of violence. The law applies only once a conflict has begun, and then equally
to all sides regardless of who started the fighting.

International humanitarian law distinguishes between international and non-international armed conflict.
International armed conflicts are those in which at least two States are involved. They are subject to a
wide range of rules, including those set out in the four Geneva Conventions and Additional Protocol I.

Non-international armed conflicts are those restricted to the territory of a single State, involving
either regular armed forces fighting groups of armed dissidents, or armed groups fighting each other.

A more limited range of rules apply to internal armed conflicts and are laid down in Article 3 common
to the four Geneva Conventions as well as in Additional Protocol II. It is important to differentiate between
international humanitarian law and human rights law.
 While some of their rules are similar, these two bodies of law have developed separately and are
contained in different treaties.
In particular, human rights law – unlike international humanitarian law – applies in peacetime, and
many of its provisions may be suspended during an armed conflict.

What does international humanitarian law cover?

International humanitarian law covers two areas:

(1) the protection of those who are not, or no longer, taking part in fighting;
(2) restrictions on the means of warfare – in particular weapons – and the methods of warfare,
such as military tactics.

What is “protection”? International humanitarian law protects those who do not take part in the
fighting, such as civilians and medical and religious military personnel. It also protects those who have ceased
to take part, such as wounded, shipwrecked and sick combatants, and prisoners of war.

These categories of person are entitled to respect for their lives and for their physical and mental
integrity. They also enjoy legal guarantees. They must be protected and treated humanely in all
circumstances, with no adverse distinction.

More specifically: it is forbidden to kill or wound an enemy who surrenders or is unable to fight; the
sick and wounded must be collected and cared for by the party in whose power they find themselves.

Medical personnel, supplies, hospitals and ambulances must all be protected. There are also detailed
rules governing the conditions of detention for prisoners of war and the way in which civilians are to be
treated when under the authority of an enemy power.

This includes the provision of food, shelter and medical care, and the right to exchange messages with
their families. The law sets out a number of clearly recognizable symbols which can be used to identify
protected people, places and objects. The main emblems are the red cross, the red crescent and the symbols
identifying cultural property and civil defence facilities.

What restrictions are there on weapons and tactics?

International humanitarian law prohibits all means and methods of warfare which:
(1) fail to discriminate between those taking part in the fighting and those, such as civilians, who are
not, the purpose being to protect the civilian population, individual civilians and civilian property
(2) cause superfluous injury or unnecessary suffering;
(3) cause severe or long-term damage to the environment.
Humanitarian law has therefore banned the use of many weapons, including exploding bullets,
chemical and biological weapons, blinding laser weapons and anti-personnel mines.

Is international humanitarian law actually complied with?

Sadly, there are countless examples of violation of international humanitarian law. Increasingly, the
victims of war are civilians. However, there are important cases where international humanitarian law has
made a difference in protecting civilians, prisoners, the sick and the wounded, and in restricting the use of
barbaric weapons.
Given that this body of law applies during times of extreme violence, implementing the law will always
be a matter of great difficulty.
That said, striving for effective compliance remains as urgent as ever. What should be done to
implement the law? Measures must be taken to ensure respect for international humanitarian law. States have
an obligation to teach its rules to their armed forces and the general public.
They must prevent violations or punish them if these nevertheless occur. In particular, they must enact
laws to punish the most serious violations of the Geneva Conventions and Additional Protocols, which are
regarded as war crimes.
The States must also pass laws protecting the red cross and red crescent emblems. Measures have also
been taken at an international level: tribunals have been created to punish acts committed in two recent
conflicts (the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda).

An international criminal court, with the responsibility of repressing inter alia war crimes, was created by
the 1998 Rome Statute.
Whether as individuals or through governments and various organizations, we can all make an
important contribution to compliance with international humanitarian law.
 REPUBLIC ACT NO. 9851

AN ACT DEFINING AND PENALIZING CRIMES AGAINST INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN LAW, GENOCIDE
AND OTHER CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY, ORGANIZING JURISDICTION, DESIGNATING SPECIAL COURTS, AND
FOR RELATED PURPOSES

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress assembled:

CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTORY PROVISIONS

Section 1. Short Title. - This Act shall be known as the "Philippine Act on Crimes Against International
Humanitarian Law, Genocide, and Other Crimes Against Humanity".

Section 2. Declaration of Principles and State Policies. -

a. The Philippines renounces war as an instrument of national policy, adopts the generally accepted principles
of international law as part of the law of the land and adheres to a policy of peace, equality, justice, freedom,
cooperation and amity with all nations.

b. The state values the dignity of every human person and guarantees full respect for human rights, including
the rights of indigenous cultural communities and other vulnerable groups, such as women and children;

c. It shall be the responsibility of the State and all other sectors concerned to resolved armed conflict in order
to promote the goal of "Children as Zones of Peace";

d. The state adopts the generally accepted principles of international law, including the Hague Conventions of
1907, the Geneva Conventions on the protection of victims of war and international humanitarian law, as part
of the law our nation;

e. The most serious crimes of concern to the international community as a whole must not go unpunished and
their effective prosecution must be ensured by taking measures at the national level, in order to put an end to
impunity for the perpetrators of these crimes and thus contribute to the prevention of such crimes, it being
the duty of every State to exercise its criminal jurisdiction over those responsible for international crimes;

f. The State shall guarantee persons suspected or accused of having committed grave crimes under
international law all rights necessary to ensure that their trial will be fair and prompt in strict accordance with
national and international law and standards for fair trial, It shall also protect victims, witnesses and their
families, and provide appropriate redress to victims and their families, It shall ensure that the legal systems in
place provide accessible and gender-sensitive avenues of redress for victims of armed conflict, and

g. The State recognizes that the application of the provisions of this Act shall not affect the legal status of the
parties to a conflict, nor give an implied recognition of the status of belligerency

CHAPTER II
DEFINITION OF TERMS

Section 3. For purposes of this Act, the term:

(a) "Apartheid' means inhumane acts committed in the context of an institutionalized regime of
systematic oppression and domination by one racial group or groups and committed with the
intention of maintaining that regime
(b) "Arbitrary deportation or forcible transfer of population" means forced displacement of the
persons concerned by expultion by expulsion or other coercive acts from the area in which they
are lawfully present, without grounds permitted under domestic or international law.
(c) "Armed conflict" means any use of force or armed violence between States or a protracted armed
violence between governmental authorities and organized armed groups or between such groups
within that State: Provided, That such force or armed violence gives rise, or may give rise, to a
situation to which the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, including their common Article 3,
apply. Armed conflict may be international, that is, between two (2) or more States, including
 belligerent occupation; or non-international, that is, between governmental authorities and
organized armed groups or between such groups within a state. It does not cover internal
disturbances or tensions such as riots, isolated and sporadic acts of violence or other acts of a
similar nature.
(d) "Armed forces" means all organized armed forces, groups and units that belong to a party to an
armed conflict which are under a command responsible to that party for the conduct of its
subordinates. Such armed forces shall be subject to an internal disciplinary system which enforces
compliance with International Humanitarian Law
(e) "Attack directed against any civilian population" means a course of conduct involving the multiple
commission of acts referred to in Section 6 of this Act against any civilian population, pursuant to
or in furtherance of a State or organizational policy to commit such attack.
(f) "Effective command and control" or " effective authority and control" means having the material
ability to prevent and punish the commission of offenses by subordinates.
(g) "Enforced or involuntary disappearance of persons" means the arrest, detention, or abduction of
persons by, or with the authorization support or acquiescence of, a State or a political organization
followed by a refusal to acknowledge that deprivation of freedom or to give information on the
fate or whereabouts of those persons, with the intention of removing from the protection of the
law for a prolonged period of time
(h) "Enslavement" means the exercise of any or all of the powers attaching to the right of ownership
over a person and includes the exercise of such power in the course of trafficking in persons, in
particular women and children.
(i) "Extermination" means the international infliction of conditions of life, inter alia, the deprivation of
access to food and medicine, calculated to bring about the destruction of a part of a population.
(j) " Forced pregnancy" means the unlawful confinement of a women to be forcibly made pregnant,
with the intent of affecting the ethnic composition of any population carrying out other grave
violations of international law.
(k) "Hors de Combat" means a person who:
(1) is in the power of an adverse party;
(2) has clearly expressed an intention to surrender; or
(3) has been rendered unconscious or otherwise incapacitated by wounds or sickness and
therefore is incapable of defending himself: Provided, that in any of these cases, the person
form any hostile act and does not attempt to escape.
(l) "Military necessity" means the necessity of employing measures which are indispensable to achieve
a legitimate aim of the conflict and are not otherwise prohibited by International Humanitarian Law
(m) "Non-defended locality" means a locality that fulfills the following conditions:
(1) all combatants, as well as mobile weapons and mobile military equipment, must have been
evacuated;
(2) no hostile use of fixed military installations or establishments must have been made;
(3) no acts of hostility must have been committed by the authorities or by the population; and
(4) no activities in support of military operations, must have been undertaken.

(n) "No quarter will be given' means refusing to spare the life of anybody, even of persons manifestly
unable to defend themselves or who clearly express their intention to surrender.
(o) "Perfidy" means acts which invite the confidence of an adversary to lead him/her to believe he/she
is entitled to, or is obliged to accord, protection under the rules of International Humanitarian Law,
with the intent to betray that confidence, including but not limited to:
(1) feigning an intent to negotiate under a flag of truce;
(2) feigning surrender;
(3) feigning incapacitation by wounds or sickness;
(4) feigning civilian or noncombatant status; and
(5) feigning protective status by use of signs, emblems or uniforms of the United Nations or of
a neutral or other State not party to the conflict.
(p) "Persecution" means the international and severe deprivation of fundamental rights contrary to
international law by reason of identity of the group or collectivity.
 (q) "Protect person" in an armed conflict means:
(1) a person wounded, sick or shipwrecked, whether civilian or military;
(2) a prisoner of war or any person deprived of liberty for reasons related to an armed conflict;
(3) a civilian or any person not taking a direct part or having ceased to take part in the hostilities
in the power of the adverse party;
(4) a person who, before the beginning of hostilities, was considered a stateless person or
refugee under the relevant international instruments accepted by the parties to the conflict
concerned or under the national legislation of the state of refuge or state of residence;
(5) a member of the medical personnel assigned exclusively to medical purposes or to the
administration of medical units or to the operation of or administration of medical transports; or
(6) a member of the religious personnel who is exclusively engaged in the work of their ministry
and attached to the armed forces of a party to the conflict, its medical units or medical
transports, or non-denominational, noncombatant military personnel carrying out functions
similar to religious personnel.
(r) " Superior" means:
(1) a military commander or a person effectively acting as a military commander; or
(2) any other superior, in as much as the crimes arose from activities within the effective
authority and control of that superior.
(s) "Torture" means the intentional infliction of severe pain or suffering, whether physical, mental, or
psychological, upon a person in the custody or under the control of the accused; except that torture
shall not include pain or suffering arising only from, inherent in or incidental to, lawful sanctions.
(t) "Works and installations containing dangerous forces" means works and installations the attack of
which may cause the release of dangerous forces and consequent severe losses among the civilian
population, namely: dams, dikes, and nuclear, electrical generation stations.

CHAPTER III
CRIMES AGAINST INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN LAW,
GENOCIDE AND OTHER CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY

Section 4. War Crimes. - For the purpose of this Act, "war crimes" or "crimes against International Human
Humanitarian Law" means:
a. In case of an international armed conflict , grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949,
namely, any of the following acts against persons or property protected under provisions of the relevant
Geneva Convention:
(1) Willful killing;
(2) Torture or inhuman treatment, including biological experiments;
(3) Willfully causing great suffering, or serious injury to body or health;
(4) Extensive destruction and appropriation of property not justified by military necessity and carried
out unlawfully and wantonly;
(5) Willfully depriving a prisoner of war or other protected person of the rights of fair & regular trial;
(6) Arbitrary deportation or forcible transfer of population or unlawful confinement;
(7) Taking of hostages;
(8) Compelling a prisoner a prisoner of war or other protected person to serve in the forces of a hostile
power; and
(9) Unjustifiable delay in the repatriation of prisoners of war or other protected persons.
(b) In case of a non-international armed conflict, serious violations of common Article 3 to the four (4) Geneva
Conventions of 12 August 1949, namely , any of the following acts committed against persons taking no active
part in the hostilities, including member of the armed forces who have laid down their arms and those
placed hors de combat  by sickness, wounds, detention or any other cause;
(1) Violence to life and person, in particular, willful killings, mutilation, cruel treatment and torture;
(2) Committing outrages upon personal dignity, in particular, humiliating and degrading treatment;
(3) Taking of hostages; and
(4) The passing of sentences and the carrying out of executions without previous judgment
pronounced by a regularly constituted court, affording all judicial guarantees which are generally
recognized as indispensable.
(c) Other serious violations of the laws and customs applicable in armed conflict, within the established
framework of international law, namely:

(1) Internationally directing attacks against the civilian population as such or against individual civilians
not taking direct part in hostilities;

(2) Intentionally directing attacks against civilian objects, that is, object which are not military objectives;

(3) Intentionally directing attacks against buildings, material, medical units and transport, and personnel
using the distinctive emblems of the Geneva Conventions or Additional Protocol III in conformity with
intentional law;

(4) Intentionally directing attacks against personnel, installations, material, units or vehicles involved in a
humanitarian assistance or peacekeeping mission in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations,
as ling as they are entitled to the protection given to civilians or civilian objects under the international
law of armed conflict;

(5) Launching an attack in the knowledge that such attack will cause incidental loss of life or injury to
civilians or damage to civilian objects or widespread, long-term and severe damage to the natural
environment which would be excessive in relation to the concrete and direct military advantage
anticipated;

(6) Launching an attack against works or installations containing dangerous forces in the knowledge that
such attack will cause excessive loss of life, injury to civilians or damage to civilian objects, and causing
death or serious injury to body or health .

(7) Attacking or bombarding, by whatever means, towns, villages, dwellings or buildings which are
undefended and which are not military objectives, or making non-defended localities or demilitarized
zones the object of attack;

(8) Killing or wounding a person in the knowledge that he/she is hors de combat,  including a combatant
who, having laid down his/her arms or no longer having means of defense, has surrendered at
discretion;

(9) Making improper use of a flag of truce, of the flag or the military insignia and uniform of the enemy
or of the United Nations, as well as of the distinctive emblems of the Geneva Conventions or other
protective signs under International Humanitarian Law, resulting in death, serious personal injury or
capture;

(10) Intentionally directing attacks against buildings dedicated to religion, education, art, science or
charitable purposes, historic monuments, hospitals and places where the sick and wounded are
collected, provided they are not military objectives. In case of doubt whether such building or place has
been used to make an effective contribution to military action, it shall be presumed not to be so used;

(11) Subjecting persons who are in the power of an adverse party to physical mutilation or to medical or
scientific experiments of any kind, or to removal of tissue or organs for transplantation, which are
neither justified by the medical, dental or hospital treatment of the person concerned nor carried out in
his/her interest, and which cause death to or seriously endanger the health of such person or persons;

(12) Killing, wounding or capturing an adversary by resort to perfidy;

(13) Declaring that no quarter will be given;

(14) Destroying or seizing the enemy's property unless such destruction or seizure is imperatively
demanded by the necessities of war;

(15) Pillaging a town or place, even when taken by assault;

(16) Ordering the displacements of the civilian population for reasons related to the conflict, unless the
security of the civilians involved or imperative military reasons so demand;
 (17) Transferring, directly or indirectly, by the occupying power of parts of its own civilian population
into the territory it occupies, or the deportation or transfer of all or parts of the population of the
occupied territory within or outside this territory;

(18) Committing outrages upon personal dignity, in particular, humiliating and degrading treatments;

(19) Committing rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy, enforced sterilization, or
any other form of sexual violence also constituting a grave breach of the Geneva Conventions or a
serious violation of common Article 3 to the Geneva Conventions;

(20) Utilizing the presence of a civilian or other protected person to render certain points, areas or
military forces immune from military operations;

(21) Intentionally using starvation of civilians as a method of warfare by depriving them of objects
indispensable to their survival, including willfully impeding relief supplies as provided for under the
Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols;

(22) In an international armed conflict, compelling the nationals of the hostile party to take part in the
operations of war directed against their own country, even if they were in the belligerent's service
before the commencement of the war;

(23) In an international armed conflict, declaring abolished, suspended or inadmissible in a court of law
the rights and actions of the nationals of the hostile party;

(24) Committing any of the following acts:

(i) Conscripting, enlisting or recruiting children under the age of fifteen (15) years into the national
armed forces;

(ii) Conscripting, enlisting or recruiting children under the age of eighteen (18) years into an armed
force or group other than the national armed forces; and

(iii) Using children under the age of eighteen (18) years to participate actively in hostilities; and

(25) Employing means of warfare which are prohibited under international law, such as:

(i) Poison or poisoned weapons;

(ii) Asphyxiating, poisonous or other gases, and all analogous liquids, materials or devices;

(iii) Bullets which expand or flatten easily in the human body, such as bullets with hard envelopes
which do not entirely cover the core or are pierced with incisions; and

(iv) Weapons, projectiles and material and methods of warfare which are of the nature to cause
superfluous injury or unnecessary suffering or which are inherently indiscriminate in violation of
the international law of armed conflict.

Any person found guilty of committing any of the acts specified herein shall suffer the penalty provided
under Section 7 of this Act.

Section 5. Genocide –
(a) For the purpose of this Act, "genocide" means any of the following acts with intent to destroy, in whole or
in part, a national, ethnic, racial, religious, social or any other similar stable and permanent group as such:
(1) Killing members of the group;
(2) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;
(3) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical
destruction in whole or in part;
(4) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group; and
(5) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.
(b) It shall be unlawful for any person to directly and publicly incite others to commit genocide.

Any person found guilty of committing any of the acts specified in paragraphs (a) and (b) of this section
shall suffer the penalty provided under Section 7 of this Act.
Section 6. Other Crimes Against Humanity. - For the purpose of this act, "other crimes against humanity"
means any of the following acts when committed as part of a widespread or systematic attack directed against
any civilian population, with knowledge of the attack:
(a) Willful killing;
(b) Extermination;
(c) Enslavement;
(d) Arbitrary deportation or forcible transfer of population;
(e) Imprisonment or other severe deprivation of physical liberty in violation of fundamental rules of
international law;
(f) Torture;
(g) Rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy, enforced sterilization, or any other
form of sexual violence of comparable gravity;
(i) Persecution against any identifiable group or collectivity on political, racial, national, ethnic,
cultural, religious, gender, sexual orientation or other grounds that are universally recognized as
impermissible under international law, in connection with any act referred to in this paragraph or
any crime defined in this Act;
(i) Enforced or involuntary disappearance of persons;
(j) Apartheid; and
(j) Other inhumane acts of a similar character intentionally causing great suffering, or serious injury to
body or to mental or physical health.
Any person found guilty of committing any of the acts specified herein shall suffer the penalty provided
under Section 7 of this Act.

CHAPTER IV
PENAL PROVISIONS

Section 7. Penalties. - Any person found guilty of committing any of the acts provided under Sections 4, 5 and 6
of this Act shall suffer the penalty of reclusion temporal in its medium to maximum period and a fine ranging
from One hundred thousand pesos (Php 100,000.00) to Five hundred thousand pesos (Php 500,000.00).

When justified by the extreme gravity of the crime, especially where the commision of any of the crimes
specified herein results in death or serious physical injury, or constitutes rape, and considering the individual
circumstances of the accused, the penalty of reclusion perpetua and a fine ranging from Five hundred
thousand pesos (Php 500,000.00) to One million pesos (Php 1,000,000.00) shall be imposed.

Any person found guilty of inciting others to commit genocide referred to in Section 5(b) of this Act shall suffer
the penalty of prision mayor in its minimum period and a fine ranging from Ten thousand pesos (Php
10,000.00) to Twenty thousand pesos (Php 20,000.00).

In addition, the court shall order the forfeiture of proceeds, property and assets derived, directly or indirectly,
from that crime, without prejudice to the rights of bona fide third (3rd) parties. The court shall also impose the
corresponding accessory penalties under the Revised Penal Code, especially where the offender is a public
officer.

CHAPTER V
SOME PRINCIPLES OF CRIMINAL LIABILITY

Section 8. Individual Criminal Responsibilities. 

(a) In addition to existing provisions in Philippine law on principles of criminal responsibility, a person shall be
criminally liable as principal for a crime defined and penalized in this Act if he/she:
(1) Commits such a crime, whether as an individual, jointly with another or through another person,
regardless of whether that other person is criminally responsible;
(2) Orders, solicits or induces the commission of such a crime which in fact occurs or is attempted;
 (3) In any other way contributes to the commission or attempted commission of such a crime by a
group of person acting with a common purpose. Such contribution shall be intentional and shall either:
(i) be made with the aim of furthering the criminal activity or criminal purpose of the group,
where such activity or purpose involves the commission of a crime defined in this Act; or
(ii) be made in the knowledge of the intention of the group to commit the crime.

(b) A person shall be criminally liable as accomplice for facilitating the commission of a crime defined and
penalized in this Act if he/she aids, abets or otherwise assists in its commission or attempted commission,
including providing the means for its commission.

(c) A person shall be criminally liable for a crime defined and penalized in this Act if he/she attempts to
commit such a crime by taking action that commences its execution by means of a substantial step, but the
crime does not occur because of circumstances independent of the person's intention. However, a person
who abandons the effort to commit the crime or otherwise prevents the completion of the crime shall not be
liable for punishment under this Act for the attempt to commit the same if he/she completely and voluntarily
gave up the criminal purpose.

Section 9. Irrelevance of Official Capacity. - This Act shall apply equally to all persons without any distinction
based on official capacity. In particular, official capacity as a head of state or government, a member of a
government or parliament, an elected representative or a government official shall in no case exempt a person
from criminal responsibility under this Act, nor shall it, in and of itself, constitute a ground for reduction of
sentence. However:

(a) Immunities or special procedural rules that may be attached to the official capacity of a person under
Philippine law other than the established constitutional immunity from suit of the Philippine President
during his/her tenure, shall not bar the court from exercising jurisdiction over such a person; and

(b) Immunities that may be attached to the official capacity of a person under international law may limit
the application of this Act, nut only within the bounds established under international law.

Section 10. Responsibility of Superiors. - In addition to other grounds of criminal responsibility for crimes
defined and penalized under this Act, a superior shall be criminally responsible as a principal for such crimes
committed by subordinates under his/her effective command and control, or effective authority and control as
the case may be, as a result of his/her failure to properly exercise control over such subordinates, where:

(a) That superior either knew or, owing to the circumstances at the time, should have known that the
subordinates were committing or about to commit such crimes;

(b) That superior failed to take all necessary and reasonable measures within his/her power to prevent
or repress their commission or to submit the matter to the competent authorities for investigation and
prosecution.

Section 11. Non-prescription.  - The crimes defined and penalized under this Act, their prosecution, and the
execution of sentences imposed on their account, shall not be subject to any prescription.

Section 12. Orders from a Superior.  - The fact that a crime defined and penalized under this Act has been
committed by a person pursuant to an order of a government or a superior, whether military or civilian, shall
not relieve that person of criminal responsibility unless all of the following elements occur:
(a) The person was under a legal obligation to obey orders of the government or the superior in question;
(b) The person did not know that the order was unlawful; and
(c) The order was not manifestly unlawful.
For the purposes of this section, orders to commit genocide or other crimes against humanity are
manifestly unlawful.

CHAPTER VI
Protection of Victims and Witnesses

Section 13. Protection of Victims and Witnesses.  - In addition to existing provisions in Philippine law for the
protection of victims and witnesses, the following measures shall be undertaken:
 (a) The Philippine court shall take appropriate measures to protect the safety, physical and physiological
well-being, dignity and privacy of victims and witnesses. In so doing, the court shall have regard of all relevant
factors, including age, gender and health, and the nature of the crime, in particular, but not limited to, where
the crime involves sexual or gender violence or violence against children. The prosecutor shall take such
measures particularly during the investigation and prosecution of such crimes. These measures shall not be
prejudicial to or inconsistent with the rights of the accused and to a fair and impartial trial;

(b) As an exception to the general principle of public hearings, the court may, to protect the victims and
witnesses or an accused, conduct any part of the proceedings in camera or allow the presentation of evidence
by electronic or other special means. In particular, such measures shall be implemented in the case of the
victim of sexual violence or a child who is a victim or is a witness, unless otherwise ordered by the court,
having regard to all the circumstances, particularly the views of the victim or witness;

(c) Where the personal interests of the victims are affected, the court shall permit their views and
concerns to be presented and considered at stages of the proceedings determined to be appropriate by the
court in manner which is not prejudicial to or inconsistent with the rights of the accused and a fair and
impartial trial. Such views and concerns may be presented by the legal representatives of the victims where
the court considers it appropriate in accordance with the established rules of procedure and evidence; and

(d) Where the disclosure of evidence or information pursuant to this Act may lead to the grave
endangerment of the security of a witness for his/her family, the prosecution may, for the purposes of any
proceedings conducted prior to the commencement of the trial, withhold such evidence or information and
instead submit a summary thereof. Such measures shall be exercised in a manner which is not prejudicial to or
inconsistent with the rights of the accused and to a fair and impartial trial.

Section 14. Reparations to Victims.  - In addition to existing provisions in Philippine law and procedural rules for
reparations to victims, the following measures shall be undertaken:

(a) The court shall follow the principles relating to the reparations to, or in respect of, victims,including
restitution, compensation and rehabilitation. On this basis, in its decision, the court may, wither upon
request or on its own motion in exceptional circumstances, determine the scope and extent of any
damage, loss and injury to, or in respect of, victims and state the principles on which it is acting;1avvphi1

(b) The court may make an order directly against a convicted person specifying appropriate reparations to,
or in respect of, victims, including restitution, compensation and rehabilitation; and

(c) Before making an order under this section, the court may invite and shall take account of
representations from or on behalf of the convicted person, victims or other interested persons.

Nothing in this section shall be interpreted as prejudicing the rights of victims under national or
international law.

CHAPTER VII
Applicability of International Law and Other Laws

Section 15. Applicability of International Law.- In the application and interpretation of this Act, Philippine
courts shall be guided by the following sources:

(a) The 1948 Genocide Convention;

(b) The 1949 Genava Conventions I-IV, their 1977 Additional Protocols I and II and their 2005
Additional Protocol III;

(c) The 1954 Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict,
its First Protocol and its 1999 Second Protocol;

(d) The 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child and its 2000 Optional Protocol on the Involvement
of Children in Armed Conflict;

(e) The rules and principles of customary international law;

(f) The judicial decisions of international courts and tribunals;
 (g) Relevant and applicable international human rights instruments;
(h) Other relevant international treaties and conventions ratified or acceded to by the Republic of the
Philippines; and

(i) Teachings of the most highly qualified publicists and authoritative commentaries on the foregoing
sources as subsidiary means for the determination of rules of international law.

Section 16. Suppletory Application of the Revised Penal Code and Other General or Special Laws.  - The
provisions of the Revised Penal Code and other general or special laws shall have a suppletory application to
the provisions of this Act.

CHAPTER VII
JURISDICTION

Section 17. Jurisdiction.- The State shall exercise jurisdiction over persons, whether military or civilian,
suspected or accused of a crime defined and penalized in this Act, regardless of where the crime is committed,
provided, any one of the following conditions is met:

(a) The accused is a Filipino citizen;

(b) The accused, regardless of citizenship or residence, is present in the Philippines; or
(c) The accused has committed the said crime against a Filipino citizen.
In the interest of justice, the relevant Philippine authorities may dispense with the investigation or prosecution
of a crime punishable under this Act if another court or international tribunal is already conducting the
investigation or undertaking the prosecution of such crime. Instead, the authorities may surrender or extradite
suspected or accused persons in the Philippines to the appropriate international court, if any, or to another
State pursuant to the applicable extradition laws and treaties.

No criminal proceedings shall be initiated against foreign nationals suspected or accused of having committed
the crimes defined and penalized in this Act if they have been tried by a competent court outside the
Philippines in respect of the same offense and acquitted, or having been convicted, already served their
sentence.

Section 18. Philippine Court, Prosecutors and Investigators.  - The Regional Trial Court of the Philippines shall
have original and exclusive jurisdiction over the crimes punishable under this Act. Their judgments may be
appealed or elevated to the Court of Appeals and to the Supreme Court as provided by law.

The Supreme Court shall designate special courts to try cases involving crimes punishable under this Act. For
these cases, the Commission on Human Rights, the Department of Justice, the Philippine National Police or
other concerned law enforcement agencies shall designate prosecutors or investigators as the case may be.

The State shall ensure that judges, prosecutors and investigators, especially those designated for purposes of
this Act, receive effective training in human rights, International Humanitarian Law and International Criminal
Law.

CHAPTER IX
FINAL PROVISIONS

Section 19. Separability Clause.  - If, for any reason or reasons, any part or provision of this Statute shall be
held to be unconstitutional or invalid, other parts or provisions hereof which are not affected thereby shall
continue to be in full force and effect.
Section 20. Repealing Clause. -  All laws, presidential decrees and issuances, executive orders, rules and
regulations or parts thereof inconsistent with the provisions of this Statute are hereby repealed or modified
accordingly.
Section 21. Effectivity.  - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its complete publication in the Official
Gazette  or in two (2) newspapers general circulation.

Approved,
December 11, 2009

REPUBLIC ACT N0. 9745

AN ACT PENALIZING TORTURE AND OTHER CRUEL, INHUMAN AND DEGRADING TREATMENT OR
PUNISHMENT AND PRESCRIBING PENALTIES THEREFOR

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress assembled:

Section 1. Short Title. - This Ad shall be known as the "Anti-Torture Act of 2009".

Section 2. Statement of Policy. - It is hereby declared the policy of the State:

(a) To value the dignity of every human person and guarantee full respect for human rights;

(b) To ensure that the human rights of all persons, including suspects, detainees and prisoners are
respected at all times; and that no person placed under investigation or held in custody of any person
in authority or, agent of a person authority shall be subjected to physical, psychological or mental
harm, force, violence, threat or intimidation or any act that impairs his/her free wi11 or in any manner
demeans or degrades human dignity;

(c) To ensure that secret detention places, solitary, incommunicado or other similar forms of
detention, where torture may be carried out with impunity, are prohibited; and

(d) To fully adhere to the principles and standards on the absolute condemnation and prohibition of
torture as provided for in the 1987 Philippine Constitution; various international instruments to which
the Philippines is a State party such as, but not limited to, the International Covenant on Civil and
Political Rights (ICCPR), the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), the Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDA W) and the Convention Against
Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CAT); and all other relevant
international human rights instruments to which the Philippines is a signatory.

Section 3. Definitions. - For purposes of this Act, the following terms shall mean:

(a) "Torture" refers to an act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is
intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him/her or a third person
information or a confession; punishing him/her for an act he/she or a third person has committed or is
suspected of having committed; or intimidating or coercing him/her or a third person; or for any
reason based on discrimination of any kind, when such pain or suffering is inflicted by or at the
instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a person in authority or agent of a person in
authority. It does not include pain or Buffering arising only from, inherent in or incidental to lawful
sanctions.

(b) "Other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment" refers to a deliberate and
aggravated treatment or punishment not enumerated under Section 4 of this Act, inflicted by a person
in authority or agent of a person in authority against a person under his/her custody, which attains a
level of severity causing suffering, gross humiliation or debasement to the latter.

(c) "Victim" refers to the person subjected to torture or other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment
or punishment as defined above and any individual who has suffered harm as a result of any act(s) of
torture, or other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment.

(d) "Order of Battle" refers to any document or determination made by the military, police or any law
enforcement agency of the government, listing the names of persons and organizations that it
perceives to be enemies of the State and that it considers as legitimate targets as combatants that it
could deal with, through the use of means allowed by domestic and international law.

Section 4. Acts of Torture. - For purposes of this Act, torture shall include, but not be limited to, the following:

(a) Physical torture is a form of treatment or punishment inflicted by a person in authority or agent of
a person in authority upon another in his/her custody that causes severe pain, exhaustion, disability or
dysfunction of one or more parts of the body, such as:
 (1) Systematic beating, headbanging, punching, kicking, striking with truncheon or rifle butt or
other similar objects, and jumping on the stomach;
(2) Food deprivation or forcible feeding with spoiled food, animal or human excreta and other
stuff or substances not normally eaten;
(3) Electric shock;
(4) Cigarette burning; burning by electrically heated rods, hot oil, acid; by the rubbing of pepper
or other chemical substances on mucous membranes, or acids or spices directly on the
wound(s);
(5) The submersion of the head in water or water polluted with excrement, urine, vomit and/or
blood until the brink of suffocation;
(6) Being tied or forced to assume fixed and stressful bodily position;
(7) Rape and sexual abuse, including the insertion of foreign objects into the sex organ or
rectum, or electrical torture of the genitals;
(8) Mutilation or amputation of the essential parts of the body such as the genitalia, ear, tongue,
etc.;
(9) Dental torture or the forced extraction of the teeth;
(10) Pulling out of fingernails;
(11) Harmful exposure to the elements such as sunlight and extreme cold;
(12) The use of plastic bag and other materials placed over the head to the point of asphyxiation;
(13) The use of psychoactive drugs to change the perception, memory. alertness or will of a
person, such as:
(i) The administration or drugs to induce confession and/or reduce mental competency; or
(ii) The use of drugs to induce extreme pain or certain symptoms of a disease; and
(14) Other analogous acts of physical torture; and

(b) "Mental/Psychological Torture" refers to acts committed by a person in authority or agent of a

person in authority which are calculated to affect or confuse the mind and/or undermine a person's
dignity and morale, such as:
(1) Blindfolding;
(2) Threatening a person(s) or his/fher relative(s) with bodily harm, execution or other wrongful acts;
(3) Confinement in solitary cells or secret detention places;
(4) Prolonged interrogation;
(5) Preparing a prisoner for a "show trial", public display or public humiliation of a detainee or
prisoner;
(6) Causing unscheduled transfer of a person deprived of liberty from one place to another, creating
the belief that he/she shall be summarily executed;
(7) Maltreating a member/s of a person's family;
(8) Causing the torture sessions to be witnessed by the person's family, relatives or any third party;
(9) Denial of sleep/rest;
(10) Shame infliction such as stripping the person naked, parading him/her in public places, shaving
the victim's head or putting marks on his/her body against his/her will;
(11) Deliberately prohibiting the victim to communicate with any member of his/her family; and
(12) Other analogous acts of mental/psychological torture.
Section 5. Other Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment.
Other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment refers to a deliberate and aggravated
treatment or punishment not enumerated under Section 4 of this Act, inflicted by a person in authority or
agent of a person in authority against another person in custody, which attains a level of severity sufficient to
cause suffering, gross humiliation or debasement to the latter.
The assessment of the level of severity shall depend on all the circumstances of the case, including
the duration of the treatment or punishment, its physical and mental effects and, in some cases, the sex,
religion, age and state of health of the victim.

Section 6. Freedom from Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading Treatment or Punishment, An
Absolute Bight. - Torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment as criminal acts
shall apply to all circumstances. A state of war or a threat of war, internal political instability, or any other
public emergency, or a document or any determination comprising an "order of battle" shall not and can never
be invoked as a justification for torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment.

Section 7. Prohibited Detention. - Secret detention places, solitary confinement, incommunicado or other
similar forms of detention, where torture may be carried out with impunity. Are hereby prohibited.

In which case, the Philippine National Police (PNP), the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) and other law
enforcement. agencies concerned shall make an updated list of all detention centers and facilities under their
respective jurisdictions with the corresponding data on the prisoners or detainees incarcerated or detained
therein such as, among others, names, date of arrest and incarceration, and the crime or offense committed.
This list shall be made available to the public at all times, with a copy of the complete list available at the
respective national headquarters of the PNP and AFP. A copy of the complete list shall likewise be submitted
by the PNP, AFP and all other law enforcement agencies to the Commission on Human Rights (CHR), such list
to be periodically updated, by the same agencies, within the first five (5) days of every month at the minimum.
Every regional office of the PNP, AFP and other law enforcement agencies shall also maintain a similar list far
all detainees and detention facilities within their respective areas, and shall make the same available to the
public at all times at their respective regional headquarters, and submit a copy. updated in the same manner
provided above, to the respective regional offices of the CHR.

Section 8. Applicability of the Exclusionary Rule; Exception. - Any confession, admission or statement
obtained as a result of torture shall be inadmissible in evidence in any proceedings, except if the same is used
as evidence against a person or persons accused of committing torture.

Section 9. Institutional Protection of Torture Victims and Other Persons Involved. - A victim of torture shall
have the following rights in the institution of a criminal complaint for torture:

(a) To have a prompt and an impartial investigation by the CHR and by agencies of government
concerned such as the Department of Justice (DOJ), the Public Attorney's Office (PAO), the PNP, the
National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and the AFP. A prompt investigation shall mean a maximum
period of sixty (60) working days from the time a complaint for torture is filed within which an
investigation report and/or resolution shall be completed and made available. An appeal whenever
available shall be resolved within the same period prescribed herein,

(b) To have sufficient government protection against all forms of harassment; threat and/or
intimidation as a consequence of the filing of said complaint or the presentation of evidence therefor.

In which case, the State through its appropriate agencies shall afford security in order to ensure
his/her safety and all other persons involved in the investigation and prosecution such as, but not
limited to, his/her lawyer, witnesses and relatives; and

(c) To be accorded sufficient protection in the manner by which he/she testifies and presents evidence
in any fora in order to avoid further trauma.

Section 10. Disposition of Writs of Habeas Corpus, Amparo and Habeas Data Proceedings and Compliance
with a Judicial 07'der. - A writ of habeas corpus or writ of amparo or writ of habeas data proceeding, if any,
filed on behalf of the victim of torture or other cruel, degrading and inhuman treatment or punishment shall
be disposed of expeditiously and any order of release by virtue thereof, or other appropriate order of a court
relative thereto, shall be executed or complied with immediately.

Section 11. Assistance in Filing a Complaint. - The CHR and the PAO shall render legal assistance in the
investigation and monitoring and/or filing of the complaint for a person who suffers torture and other cruel,
inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment, or for any interested party thereto.
The victim or interested party may also seek legal assistance from the Barangay Human Rights Action
Center (BRRAC) nearest him/her as well as from human rights nongovernment organizations (NGOs).

Section 12. Right to' Physical, Medical and Psychological Examination. - Before and after interrogation, every
person arrested, detained or under custodial investigation shall have the right to he informed of his/her right
to demand physical examination by an independent and competent doctor of his/her own choice. If such
person cannot afford the services of his/her own doctor, he/she shall he provided by the State with a
competent and independent doctor to conduct physical examination. The State shall endeavor to provide the
victim with psychological evaluation if available under the circumstances. If the person arrested is a female,
she shall be attended to preferably by a female doctor. Furthermore, any person arrested, detained or under
custodial investigation, including his/her immediate family, shall have the right to immediate access to proper
and adequate medical treatment. The physical examination and/or psychological evaluation of the victim shall
be contained in a medical report, duly signed by the attending physician, which shall include in detail his/her
medical history and findings, and which shall he attached to the custodial investigation report. Such report
shall be considered a public document.

Following applicable protocol agreed upon by agencies tasked to conduct physical, psychological and mental
examinations, the medical reports shall, among others, include:

(a) The name, age and address of the patient or victim;

(b) The name and address of the nearest kin of the patient or victim;
(c) The name and address of the person who brought the patient or victim for physical, psychological
and mental examination, and/or medical treatment;
(d) The nature and probable cause of the patient or victim's injury, pain and disease and/or trauma;
(e) The approximate time and date when the injury, pain, disease and/or trauma was/were sustained;
(f) The place where the injury, pain, disease and/or trauma was/were sustained;
(g) The time, date and nature of treatment necessary; and
(h) The diagnosis, the prognosis and/or disposition of the patient.

Any person who does not wish to avail of the rights under this pr<;lvision may knowingly and voluntarily waive
such rights in writing, executed in the presence and assistance of his/her counsel.

Section 13. Who are Criminally Liable. - Any person who actually participated Or induced another in the
commission of torture or other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment or who cooperated in
the execution of the act of torture or other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment by
previous or simultaneous acts shall be liable as principal
Any superior military, police or law enforcement officer or senior government official who issued an
order to any lower ranking personnel to commit torture for whatever purpose shall be held equally liable as
principals.
The immediate commanding officer of the unit concerned of the AFP or the immediate senior public
official of the PNP and other law enforcement agencies shall be held liable as a principal to the crime of torture
or other cruel or inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment for any act or omission, or negligence
committed by him/her that shall have led, assisted, abetted or allowed, whether directly or indirectly, the
commission thereof by his/her subordinates. If he/she has knowledge of or, owing to the circumstances at the
time, should have known that acts of torture or other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment
shall be committed, is being committed, or has been committed by his/her subordinates or by others within
his/her area of responsibility and, despite such knowledge, did not take preventive or corrective action either
before, during or immediately after its commission, when he/she has the authority to prevent or investigate
allegations of torture or other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment but failed to prevent or
investigate allegations of such act, whether deliberately or due to negligence shall also be liable as principals.
Any public officer or employee shall be liable as an accessory if he/she has knowledge that torture or
other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment is being committed and without having
participated therein, either as principal or accomplice, takes part subsequent to its commission in any of the
following manner:
(a) By themselves profiting from or assisting the offender to profit from the effects of the act of torture
or other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment;
(b) By concealing the act of torture or other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment
and/or destroying the effects or instruments thereof in order to prevent its discovery; or(c) By
harboring, concealing or assisting m the escape of the principal/s in the act of torture or other cruel,
inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment: Provided, That the accessory acts are done with the
abuse of the official's public functions.

Section 14. Penalties.
(a) The penalty of reclusion perpetua shall be imposed upon the perpetrators of the following acts:
(1) Torture resulting in the death of any person;
(2) Torture resulting in mutilation;
(3) Torture with rape;
 (4) Torture with other forms of sexual abuse and, in consequence of torture, the victim shall
have become insane, imbecile, impotent, blind or maimed for life; and
(5) Torture committed against children.
(b) The penalty of reclusion temporal shall be imposed on those who commit any act of mental/psychological
torture resulting in insanity, complete or partial amnesia, fear of becoming insane or suicidal tendencies of the
victim due to guilt, worthlessness or shame.
(c) The penalty of prision correccional shall be imposed on those who commit any act of torture resulting in
psychological, mental and emotional harm other than those described 1n paragraph (b) of this section. '
(d) The penalty of prision mayor in its medium and maximum periods shall be imposed if, in consequence of
torture, the victim shall have lost the power of speech or the power to hear or to smell; or shall have lost an
eye, a hand, a foot, an arm or a leg; or shall have lost the use of any such member; Or shall have become
permanently incapacitated for labor.
(e) The penalty of prision mayor in its minimum and medium periods shall be imposed if, in consequence of
torture, the victim shall have become deformed or shall have lost any part of his/her body other than those
aforecited, or shall have lost the use thereof, or shall have been ill or incapacitated for labor for a period of
more than ninety (90) days.
(f) The penalty of prision correccional in its maximum period to prision mayor in its minimum period shall be
imposed if, in consequence of torture, the victim shall have been ill or incapacitated for labor for mare than
thirty (30) days but not more than ninety (90) days.
(g) The penalty of prision correccional in its minimum and medium period shall be imposed if, in consequence
of torture, the victim shall have been ill or incapacitated for labor for thirty (30) days or less.
(h) The penalty of arresto mayor shall be imposed for acts constituting cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment
or punishment as defined in Section 5 of this Act.
(i) The penalty of prision correccional shall be imposed upon those who establish, operate and maintain secret
detention places and/or effect or cause to effect solitary confinement, incommunicado or other similar forms
of prohibited detention as provided in Section 7 of this Act where torture may be carried out with impunity.

(j) The penalty of arresto mayor shall be imposed upon the responsible officers or personnel of the AFP, the
PNP and other law enforcement agencies for failure to perform his/her duty to maintain, submit or make
available to the public an updated list of detention centers and facilities with the corresponding data on the
prisoners or detainees incarcerated or detained therein, pursuant to Section 7 of this Act.

Section 15. Torture as a Separate and Independent Crime. - Torture as a crime shall not absorb or shall not be
absorbed by any other crime or felony committed as a consequence, or as a means in the conduct or
commission thereof. In which case, torture shall be treated as a separate and independent criminal act whose
penalties shall be imposable without prejudice to any other criminal liability provided for by domestic and
international laws.
Section 16. Exclusion from the Coverage of Special Amnesty Law. - In order not to depreciate the crime of
torture, persons who have committed any act of torture shall not benefit from any special amnesty law or
similar measures that will have the effect of exempting them from any criminal proceedings and sanctions.
Section 17. Applicability of Refouler. - No person shall be expelled, returned or extradited to another State
where there are substantial grounds to believe that such person shall be in danger of being subjected to
torture. For the purposes of determining whether such grounds exist, the Secretary of the Department of
Foreign Affairs (DFA) and the Secretary of the DOJ, in coordination with the Chairperson of the CHR, shall take
into account all relevant considerations including, where applicable and not limited to, the existence in the
requesting State of a consistent pattern of gross, flagrant or mass violations of human rights.
Section 18. Compensation to Victims of Torture. - Any person who has suffered torture shall have the right to
claim for compensation as provided for under Republic Act No. 7309: Provided, That in no case shall
compensation be any lower than Ten thousand pesos (P10,000.00). Victims of torture shall also have the right
to claim for compensation from such other financial relief programs that may be made available to him/her
under existing law and rules and regulations.
Section 19. Formulation of a Rehabilitation Program. - Within one (1) year from the effectivity of this Act, the
Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), the DOJ and the Department of Health (DOH) and
such other concerned government agencies, and human rights organizations shall formulate a comprehensive
rehabilitation program for victims of torture and their families. The DSWD, the DOJ and thc DOH shall also call
on human rights nongovernment organizations duly recognized by the government to actively participate in
the formulation of such program that shall provide for the physical, mental, social, psychological healing and
development of victims of torture and their families. Toward the attainment of restorative justice, a parallel
rehabilitation program for persons who have committed torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading
punishment shall likewise be formulated by the same agencies.
Section 20. Monitoring of Compliance with this Act. - An Oversight Committee is hereby created to
periodically oversee the implementation of this Act. The Committee shall be headed by a Commissioner of the
CRR, with the following as members: the Chairperson of the Senate Committee on Justice and Human Rights,
the respective Chairpersons of the House of Representatives' Committees on Justice and Human Rights, and
the Minority Leaders of both houses or their respective representatives in the minority.
Section 21. Education and Information Campaign. - The CHR, the DOJ, the Department of National Defense
(DND), the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and such other concerned parties in both
the public and private sectors shall ensure that education and information regarding prohibition against
torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment or punishment shall be fully included in the training
of law enforcement personnel, civil or military, medical personnel, public officials and other persons who may
be involved in the custody, interrogation or treatment of any individual subjected to any form of arrest,
detention or imprisonment. The Department of Education (DepED) and the Commission on Higher Education
(CHED) shall also ensure the integration of human rights education courses in all primary, secondary and
tertiary level academic institutions nationwide.
Section 22. Applicability of the Revised Penal Code. - The provisions of the Revised Penal Code insofar as they
are applicable shall be suppletory to this Act. Moreover, if the commission of any crime punishable under Title
Eight (Crimes Against Persons) and Title Nine (Crimes Against Personal Liberty and Security) of the Revised
Penal Code is attended by any of the acts constituting torture and other cruel, inhuman and degrading
treatment or punishment as defined herein, the penalty to be imposed shall be in its maximum period.
Section 23. Appropriations. - The amount of Five million pesos (Php5,000,000.00) is hereby appropriated to
the CHR for the initial implementation of tills Act. Thereafter, such sums as may be necessary for the continued
implementation of this Act shall be included in the annual General Appropriations Act.
Section 24. Implementing Rules and Regulations. - The DOJ and the CHR, with the active participation of
human rights nongovernmental organizations, shall promulgate the rules and regulations for the effective
implementation of tills Act. They shall also ensure the full dissemination of such rules and regulations to all
officers and members of various law enforcement agencies.
Section 25. Separability Clause. - If any provision of this Act is declared invalid or unconstitutional, the other
provisions not affected thereby shall continue to be in full force and effect.
Section 26. Repealing Clause. - All laws, decrees, executive orders or rules and regulations contrary to or
inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are hereby repealed or modified accordingly.
Section 27. Effectivity. - This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its publication in the Official Gazette or
in at least two (2) newspapers of general circulation.
Approved,
Approved: November 10, 2009