ADVERTISEMENT“With the COVID-19 outbreak in prisons, the 609 political prisoners are already facing their death sentence,” said ICHRP chairperson Peter Murphy in the statement. Despite the Supreme Court’s order to free 9,731 detainees who are unable to afford bail, no political prisoners were released. The ICHRP argued that most of the political prisoners’ cases are non-bailable and their cases have stalled in courts for years including that of 60-year-old Dario Tomada. “The same compassion shown to the 9,731 released prisoners should be given to political prisoners. ICHRP and other rights groups already raised concerns about underreporting of COVID-19 cases in the detention facilities while the deaths are not fully reported.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer May 06, 2020 07:48 UTC