A/HRC/13/42*
page 177
Site(s) of detention, including sites of possible transit
1. Fort Magsaysay, the Headquarters of the AFP 7th Infantry Division;
2. a safe-house in San Ildefonso;
3. a safe-house in Sapang;
4. Camp Tecson, the Headquarters of the AFP Scout Rangers;
5. AFP 24th Infantry Battalion detachment in Limay, Bataan;
6. a safe-house in Zambales;
7. a safe-house in Pangasinan.
He escaped from the last place of detention.
Conditions and treatment
Interrogation: During the initial stages of his secret detention he was repeatedly interrogated
about his alleged affiliation with the NPA by military personnel, including senior officers (he
has identified some of them by name in the domestic judicial proceedings, see below). He was
tortured during his interrogations.
Torture: He says he was regularly subjected to torture and other ill-treatment by his captors in
several of the places of secret detention he was held at. He described that he was hit in all parts
of his body. For instance, he was beaten in the buttocks and in the back with wood. He was
beaten with metal chains and with a handgun butt, leaving him a still visible scar on his left
eye brow. Water was poured into his nose to give him a sense of drowning. His back was
burned with a searing hot metal can. His own urine was poured into his mouth and nose. He
was doused with gasoline and threatened that he will be burnt alive. Both of his forearms were
hammered with a metal hammer twice in one week, leaving him for a long time incapable of
the menial work he was required to do for his captors. In Fort Magsaysay he received medical
treatment for the injuries caused by torture. He cannot tell whether those treating him were
military or civilian medics, as they did not introduce themselves and bore no name tags. The
Supreme Court of the Philippines has found these torture allegations to be credible (see
below).
He also witnessed the torture of his brother Reynaldo, secretly detained together with him, and
was told by a female co-detainee of the torture and rape she underwent at the hands of the
soldiers.
Food: During some parts of the secret detention, for instance in Fort Magsaysay, he was fed
only at night, usually with left-over and rotten food.
Forced work: He and other persons secretly detained with him were forced to carry out work
for their military captors, such as raising live-stock, washing and cooking.
Judicial proceedings
No judicial proceedings were initiated by the authorities against him. During his secret
detention, the parents of Raymond Manalo initiated habeas corpus proceedings before the
Supreme Court of the Philippines. The AFP denied that Raymond Manalo was in their
custody. In June 2006, AFP personnel took Raymond Manalo to his parents’ home during one
night to dissuade them from pursuing the habeas corpus proceedings. Before that meeting, a
senior military commander, Maj.Gen. Jovito Palparan, told him that he and his brother
Reynaldo would be kept alive if their family stopped taking part in the habeas corpus
proceedings, stopped talking to human rights groups, particularly Karapatan, and stopped
taking part in rallies. If the family failed to comply with these instructions, he and Reynaldo
Manalo could be killed any time.
In its decision of 7 October 2008 (see below), the Supreme Court of the Philippines states that
“ [a]part from the failure of the military elements to provide protection to respondents by
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