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‘First Hope’: Training on Minnesota Protocol to better probe unlawful deaths in PH concludes 1st run

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Mike Navallo, ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="The United Nations Joint Programme on Human Rights and and the Department of Justice holds a training program aimed at improving forensic pathology capabilities of Philippine investigators. Mike Navallo, ABS-CBN News" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2023/news/07/08/070823_minnesota-protocol.jpg"/><figcaption>The United Nations Joint Programme on Human Rights and and the Department of Justice holds a training program aimed at improving forensic pathology capabilities of Philippine investigators. Mike Navallo, ABS-CBN News</figcaption></figure></div>MANILA — The United Nations Joint Programme on Human Rights (UNJP) and the Department of Justice (DOJ) on Friday concluded the first round of trainings aimed at improving forensic pathology capabilities of Philippine investigators dealing with possibly unlawful deaths, in what experts are hoping will just be the first step in seeking accountability and justice in the country.UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions Dr. Morris Tidball-Binz, in an academic capacity, conducted a five-day training in Manila with 26 participants coming from the Philippine National Police, the National Bureau of Investigation, the Department of Justice, the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) and representatives from civil society on the Minnesota Protocol. The Minnesota Protocol on the Investigation of Potentially Unlawful Death is a United Nations manual originally drafted in 1991 and revised in 2016 which prescribes standards for the conduct of forensic examinations.It is used around the world not only as an education resource but also as a practical guide and a legal standard, touted as the “gold standard” in investigations.Tidball-Binz came in his capacity as a medical doctor specializing in forensic science, upon the invitation of the Philippine government. He was joined by Atty. Kingsley Abbott of the International Commission of Jurists, Dr. Stephen Cordner, a professor emeritus at the Department of Forensic Medicine at the Monash University, and anthropologist Dr. Luis Fondebrider, among others.“I’m extremely grateful for this because the dissemination, promotion, training, and implementation of Minnesota Protocol are absolutely fundamental for the investigation and prevention of extra-judicial executions,” the UN special rapporteur said.Tidball-Binz had previously been invited to the Philippines as far back as 1986 by the CHR, the University of the Philippines, the Medical Action Group and the now-defunct Philippine Constabulary as part of a group of experts to share experiences on the investigation, search, recovery, and identification of the disappeared.But he noted it was a one-off initiative that was not sustained.In a chance meeting in June 2021 with Ambassador Evan Garcia Permanent Representative of the Philippines to the UN and other International Organizations, Tidball-Binz, then newly-appointed to his special rapporteur post, offered the technical assistance of his mandate and his expertise as a forensic expert to come up with a similar initiative.That discussion was followed by another meeting with Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla late last year, which led to the UNJP-DOJ training.“Initiative po namin yan. We had this in by late October, early November last year when we were in Geneva. Pinag-usapan na namin ni Usec Andres and Usec Vasquez itong bagay na ito and we were very thankful that it pushed through. And I would write a letter of thanks to UNJP for this,” Remulla said Thursday.“But it doesn’t end here. Kailangan to tuloy-tuloy institutionally lumakas ang ating capability sa forensic pathology para alam natin talaga yung mga nangyayari, pati po sa untimely death situations,” he added.Tidball-Binz echoed the call to sustain the initiative, as he showed a Tagalog edition of the Minnesota Protocol to aid investigators.“Investigations based on international standards such as those applied by Prof. Raquel Fortun, which actually showed us all that it is possible to carry out reliable investigations into these cases but for which capacity is required, standards are required,” he stressed.Dr. Fortun, only one of 2 forensic pathologists in the country, welcomed the development as long overdue, saying she has been advocating for this for years.“I hope that the participants realized we have to improve. This is about the Minnesota Protocol. And the Minnesota Protocol is about standards and we are not up to standards. And so it’s a big deal that participants would accept that we need to improve,” she said.“Hopefully this opens opportunities. Dr. Morris Tidball-Binz said this is not a one-off. And that is what I’m hoping for, that we can sustain this. That this is not a one-off. That we actually generate opportunities and continuing education and so forth for improving forensic science in the Philippines,” she added.Fortun has long been at the forefront of conducting forensic examinations of deaths in the drug war such as that involving teenager Kian delos Santos, the killings of activists such as those involved in Bloody Sunday, and more recently, the examination of the body of Bureau of Corrections inmate Jun Villamor, alleged to be the middleman in the killing of radio commentator Percy Lapid.More than 6,000 drug suspects have been killed in the previous administration’s drug war according to official figures but human rights groups say this could go as high as 30,000. Dahas of the UP Third World Studies Center continued to track drug-related killings under the Marcos administration, recording 309 deaths in the last 6 months of 2022 and 167 in the first half of 2023.Fortun has lamented the state of forensic pathology in the country, uncovering falsified death certificates on drug war victims which indicated they died of natural causes when there were in fact bullets in their bodies.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/02/03/23/more-drug-war-victims-have-falsified-death-certificates-forensic-expert">Forensic expert bares more drug war victims have falsified death certificates</a></li></ul>She also discovered a bullet fragment in delos Santos’ neck, 5 years after he was laid to rest, when the initial autopsy did not mention this.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/news/02/02/23/fortun-reports-inconsistencies-in-kian-delos-santos-autopsy">Forensic expert reports inconsistencies in Kian Delos Santos autopsy</a></li></ul>Fortun however acknowledged that the training will not immediately translate to results on the ground.“Will this improve how we go back to previous cases? Will this improve how we now process the next ones? Because hopefully the killings will stop. But they haven’t stopped. So the challenge is still there. But definitely this is a positive step,” she said.“This is at least, ito first hope. I am not promising justice and accountability. That is in the long run, the objective. But how do we do that? You cannot do that in a five-day, week-long course. But at least that’s what we’re hoping for, improvements,” she continued.But the Commission on Human Rights is optimistic.“This Minnesota Protocol is the golden opportunity for the Philippine government to use and implement in the law enforcement. Moreso, that they could use this mechanism as a preventative measure to prevent grave human rights violations,” said CHR Chief Investigator Ronnie Rosero, who took part in the training.The DOJ, for its part, said, succeeding trainings are in the works.“Other, more advanced training programs are being conceptualized to ensure that intended results and deliverables are attained and maintained, including but not limited to reduced numbers of potential arbitrary killings as well as increased successful prosecution and convictions of human rights violations,” said Senior Deputy State Prosecutor Hazel Decena-Valdez.Beyond extrajudicial killings, Tidball-Binz said the Minnesota Protocol is also valuable to the Philippines as a disaster-prone country.“As we discussed this week, what we’ve learned in terms of documentation, recovery of a body, documentation, and identification of a body has an immediate impact on disaster victim identification…and how valuable this is for a country which is top of the list of disaster-prone countries in the world. And you suffer regularly from natural disasters leading to many, many deaths who need to be recovered, identified,” he said.<div> RELATED VIDEO</div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe allow="autoplay; fullscreen" frameBorder="0" height="100%" id="ivsplayer01" scrolling="no" src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/html/iframe-src.html?iframeid=ivsplayer01&amp;key=e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603&amp;spid=3001339&amp;vid=2711822" width="100%"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div>

The Minnesota Protocol on the Investigation of Potentially Unlawful Death is a UN manual which prescribes standards for the conduct of forensic examinations.

‘First Hope’: Training on Minnesota Protocol to better probe unlawful deaths in PH concludes 1st run

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‘First Hope’: Training on Minnesota Protocol to better probe unlawful deaths in PH concludes 1st run

Mike Navallo,

ABS-CBN News

Published Jul 08, 2023 03:30 PM PHT

|

Updated Jul 08, 2023 08:15 PM PHT

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United Nations

United Nations Joint Programme on Human Rights

Department of Justice

DOJ

UN

forensic examinations

forensic pathology

Raquel Fortun

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