Philippines: Torture by ‘cop’ caught on cam

abs-cbnNEWS.com
Posted at 08/17/2010 8:01 PM | Updated as of 08/18/2010 10:35 AM

MANILA, Philippines (1st UPDATE) – ABS-CBN News has obtained exclusive video of a robbery suspect being tortured by an alleged police officer inside a precinct in Tondo, Manila. (Click on abs-cbnNEWS.com for the video.)

“Emil” (not his real name) said he got the cellphone video from a friend who witnessed the torture of the victim. He said his friend has gone into hiding for fear of suffering the same fate as the man in the video.

The video showed a naked man in a fetal position on the floor of an alleged police precinct, his genitals supposedly bound with a rope.

Another man wearing a white shirt and shorts is then seen whipping the victim’s face and torso with a rope while heaping curses on him. “Dito bawal ang snatcher ha,” the man said.

The man is also seen ordering the victim to remove his hands from his genitals while pulling the rope, making the victim cry out in pain.

The video also shows a police officer seemingly using his cellphone to text someone.

Emil said the victim was a notorious criminal who was being tortured to own up to a hold-up incident. He said the torturer is allegedly the chief of a police community precinct in Asuncion, Tondo, Manila.

He claimed police usually torture suspected criminals, and sometimes even kill them.

“Madalas daw talaga nangyayari lalo na tuwing maraming napapansing holdaper. Sasabihin nila nanlaban tapos papatayin (It happens a lot when they notice a lot of hold-up suspects. They say the suspects tried to fight back and then kill them),” he said.

Asked what happened to the victim in the video, Emil claimed the victim has also died “after making it appear that he tried to fight.”

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