Basta!
Run Against Torture II (BRAT II)
June 26 is a UN international day to commemorate the support to victims of torture. Balay Rehabilitation Center, together with other non-government organizations such as Amnesty International, Pilipinas, the Philippine Alliance of Human Rights Advocates (PAHRA) and the United against Torture Coalition joined the international community in the global campaign to prevent and put a stop to the practice of torture in all corners of the world. Its commemoration activity was through the Second Basta! Run against Torture II, a freedom from torture multi-stakeholder and sectoral run. The first ‘Basta! Run against Torture (BRAT)’ was held in June 25, 2002, a launch and first activity of the United against Torture Coalition (UATC), a network of freedom from torture advocates in the Philippines that was formed in May 2002. BRAT was the brainchild of Fr. Robert Reyes, who eventually headed the 50-strong runners from different organizations within the Coalition namely, Balay Rehabilitation Center, Amnesty International, Pilipinas, Gomburza, PAHRA, PhilRIGHTS, PAO, CATW-AP, BUKAL, TFDP, FIND, KALAYAAN, UPCIDS-PST, MAG, etc. The well-publicized event which was covered by various radio, print and TV programs started at the Oblation Statue in UP Diliman and ended at the Quezon City Memorial Circle to join the rest of the coalition and the media in an hour-long press conference that formally launched the concerted campaign against torture in the Philippines. The 2008 BRAT 2 was the local counterpart of the simultaneous actions by different organizations all over the world to serve as a reminder to the Philippine Government and all nations that peoples all over the world will not be tired of demanding the respect, protection and fulfillment of their right not to be tortured. BRAT II was undertaken in cooperation in cooperation with the Quezon City Government, the Philippine National Police and the Philippine Commission on Human Rights. Despite the heavy drizzle on the morning of 26 June, contingents of the human rights community departed the assembly point which is the oblation statue at the University of the Philippines and proceeded to the Quezon City Hall. The moving assemblage was flanked by an assortment of tri-media covering the event. Upon arrival at the city’s seat of government, they were received and welcomed by the City Authorities and representatives of legislators’ offices and other public institutions. It was followed by a formal Re-Affirmation against Torture program during which key freedom from torture messages were given by the organizers together with solidarity messages from guests as well. The activity had ended with the media taking pictures of civil society and government representatives holding an enlarged “Pact to Make the Philippines Torture-Free”.
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