THEMATIC REPORT 2017 REDRESS AND REPARATIONS Costly and lengthy legal processes deter victims from seeking redress In the Philippines, the main obstacle to making a complaint about torture is lack of funds or lack of legal assistance. The majority of torture victims come from poor families and are often unemployed. The costly and lengthy legal process requires financial resources that victims simply do not have and exposes them to the risk of reprisals from the perpetrators. In addition, there is a general distrust of the judicial system amongst torture victims coupled by a poor state protection programme for torture victims. Most of the complaints filed by MAG’s clients are pending (nine cases in total). This suggests that the 60-day rule under section 9 of the Anti-Torture Act, which stipulates that torture victims have a right to a prompt and impartial investigation by the Commission of Human Rights and other agencies of the government, is not being implemented.38 According to the legislation, a prompt investigation means that an investigation report or resolution should be reached within 60 working days from the time a complaint for torture is filed. In Mexico, CCTI’s data shows that 29 cases where a torture victim filed a complaint are pending. According to CCTI accessing justice in Mexico is a long and bureaucratic process both when a victim files a complaint about torture and seeks reparations. For example, five torture victims who were wrongly accused of crimes were released from detention in 2014. However, they have still not received any reparations three years later. See also, the case study: Medico-legal reports corroborate torture used to extract information (page 34), which also illustrates the lengthy legal processes that torture victims must endure. In Kenya, almost half of all cases where a complaint about torture was made have been pending for more than two years (47 percent) and many of them have not even had a hearing scheduled. Delays in legal proceedings are caused by a number of factors: backlogs and staff shortages in the court process, limited numbers of judicial officers, regular transfers of prosecutors and judges and political interference. In addition, ongoing investigations of complaints are hampered by an overly bureaucratic police force which delays files being sent to the Director of Public Prosecution for action. page 37 Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo declares martial law. © 2009 Getty Images.