eng - World Organisation Against Torture

estraint should only be used on childrenwhen absolutely necessary. Approximately50% of the children interviewed report thatthey had been handcuffed on arrest and oftenduring their transfer to and from court.As there is no obligation on the arresting officerto record details on the use of handcuffsand other instruments of restrain, there is noway to confirm or refute these allegations.5.2.2. Police CustodyDuty to Inform Parents/Guardians and theDepartment of Social Welfare andDevelopmentUnder Section 4 of the Implementing Rules,the arresting police officer is obliged to notifythe Department of Social Welfare andDevelopment (DSWD) and the parents orguardian of the arrest of the child withineight hours. The officer is also obliged to explainto them the cause and reason for the arrest.Unfortunately, this rule is not appliedconsistently. In some jails, it seems that thechild’s parents and the DSWD had been informedof the child’s detention almost immediately.In others, little or no effort hadbeen made to contact either the child’s parentsor the DSWD. Had efforts been made tocontact both parties and had these beenrecorded, it would go some way towards provingthat the arresting officer diligently enforcedthe rights of the accused, even if theparents or guardians were not contactable.Physical Examination of the ChildUnder Article 190 of PD No. 603, an arrestingofficer is obliged to take the arrestedchild to any available government medical orhealth officer in the area for a physical andmedical examination. This provision is intendedto act as a deterrent to the use of unnecessaryforce during and after arrest. Onlya small number of the children interviewedreportedly had such an examination. Severalof the children reported the use of unnecessaryforce against them by police officersduring and after arrest and a physical examinationwould help confirm or disprovethese allegations of abuse.Right to be Informed Immediately for theReason for the ArrestUnder Section 4 of PD No. 603 and Section2(b) of RA No. 7438, the arresting officer isobliged to immediately inform the youth of33