Manila: An international rights watchdog called on the Aquino government to decisively address abuses committed by security forces while pointing out excesses continue despite the passage of anti torture law.

Human Rights Watch (HRW), in its World Report 2015, said that although the administration of President Benigno Aquino III administration took some important steps in 2014 to improve rule of law, “the government’s overall record in addressing serious human rights violations remained poor.”

“A crucial missing ingredient in addressing the Philippines’ human rights problems is a lack of political will,” Phelim Kline, deputy Asia director for HRW said.

Kline said the government should take decisive action against torture and extrajudicial killings committed by police as well as other security forces.

HRW took note of a report by the Justice Department last November that bared torture and abuses committed against suspects in the September 2013 attack by a recalcitrant faction of the Moro National Liberation Front during the three weeks siege in Zamboanga City.

The Department of Justice discovered a trail of ill treatment and gruesome torture technics used by police officers that included stapling of nipples and genitals, aside from suffocation of the suspects.

“The Aquino administration needs to ensure that police responsible for serious abuses are thoroughly investigated and prosecuted,” Kline reiterated.

Aquino was voted in 2010 on a platform of good governance, with only two years left on his six years term, Kline said there is little time left for the President to rectify the abuses of the past and leave a legacy that would raise the benchmark of respect for human rights by security forces.

“Ending the culture of impunity for police torture should be top priority for Aquino in his final two years in office,” Kline said.

In the 656-page world report, now on its 25th edition, Human Rights Watch reviews human rights practices in more than 90 countries.

“Human Rights Watch urges governments to recognise that human rights offer an effective moral guide in turbulent times, and that violating rights can spark or aggravate serious security challenges,” the watchdog said.