MANILA, March 14 -- The Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) on Thursday signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) aimed at facilitating assistance to victims of human rights abuses, summary executions, torture, and enforced disappearances, among others.

The partnership establishes a "referral system" for victims, wherein the CHR guides and endorses individuals with pending human rights abuse cases to the DOJ's Board of Claims (DOJ BOC) for claims processing under Republic Act (RA) No. 7309, also known as "The Board of Claims."

The DOJ BOC also endorses the cases of human rights violations not compensable under RA 7309 for their evaluation and possible assistance to CHR.

Under the MOA, the DOJ commits to ac...