Django, a police officer placed a plastic bag on the head of Tinoy, a suspected drug pusher, and watched as Jason and Clint, police trainees, beat up and tortured Tinoy to get his confession.
Is Django criminally liable?
Answer:
Yes Django is criminally liable.
Under Section 13 of R.A. No. 9745, immediate senior public official of the PNP shall be held liable as a principal to the crime of torture if he has knowledge that acts of torture are being committed by his subordinates, and did not take preventive action during its commission. Section 13 of R. A. No. 9745 explicitly make superiors criminally liable under the doctrine of command responsibility. In the case of Rubrico v. Arroyo, 2010 liability under the doctrine of command responsibility is no longer simply an administrative, but is now criminal.
Django being a police officer is the one who first initiate the said act by putting a plastic bag on the head of Tinoy, immediately followed by the beating and torturous act by Jason and Clint, and therefore responsible as a principal for the crime of torture by letting his subordinates beat up the said victim to get his confession. This is a lapse of judgment on the part of the police officer for not having taken preventive action during the torturous act.
Hence, Django is liable as principal for the crime of torture.