Viet Nam Human Rights
Philippines drug war or War on human rights
14/9/16
The Philippine Drug War, also known as the Philippine War on Drugs, is an ongoing domestic crackdown against narcotics distribution and use in the Philippines that
began on June 30, 2016 when Rodrigo Dutertewas inaugurated
as president.
One of the central
features of President Rodrigo Duterte's presidential campaign was the levels of
drug crime across the country. Stating that the country would become a narco-state if drug addiction was not forcefully
combated, he ran a hardline campaign which included the killing of suspected
drug dealers and abusers only if they resist arrest. Winning in a landslide
victory, he promised to kill tens of thousands of drug criminals during the
campaign against narcotics.
As Mayor of Davao
City, Rodrigo
Duterte was praised
for turning his city into one of the safest cities in the world through the
suppression of drugs and criminality, although he was criticized by groups like Human Rights Watch for the extrajudicial killings carried
out by the Davao Death
Squad, a vigilante group with which he was allegedly involved.
In the first two weeks
of Rodrigo Duterte's presidency, more than 100 suspected drug dealers had been killed, 1,844 arrested and
660,000 drug users and dealers had surrendered. In August 2016, that number had
inflated to approximately 1,800 killed, 5,400 arrested and 565,805 dealers and
users surrendered to police. While the Director-General of the Philippine
National Police, Ronald dela
Rosa, stated that crime rates had fallen by 49% since the President
took office, critics of the campaign likened the situation to the dictatorship
of Ferdinand
Marcos.
After winning presidential elections
with a campaign promising to rid the country of drugs and corruption,
Philippines’ Rodrigo Duterte is standing true to his aim with over 400 dealers
and others already having been killed by police. The state-sanctioned
executions are facing widespread criticism from human rights activists.
Over 300 anti-narcotics and human
rights groups from around the world Tuesday called for the
United Nations to denounce the killings being carried out by the
police as well as vigilante groups, which have reportedly slaughtered hundreds
more based on Duterte’s public calls to take action against drugs by taking the
law into their own hands.
The appeal was directed to the
International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) and the United Nations Office on
Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and came after a Philippine senator called for an
investigation into the killings that Duterte has endorsed.
In a speech before the Senate, former
justice minister Leila de Lima said: “We cannot wage the war against drugs with
blood. We will only be trading drug addiction with another more malevolent kind
of addiction. This is the compulsion for more killing.”
In a nationally televised speech in June, Duterte urged the citizens: “Please feel free
to call us, the police, or do it yourself if you have the gun — you have my
support.”
“You can kill him. Shoot him and
I’ll give you a medal,” he added.
Philippine
President Rodrigo Duterte has named several government officials, including
judges, members of Congress and military officers accused of having links to
the illegal drug trade, just hours after vowing to maintain his
"shoot-to-kill" order against drug dealers.
In
a televised national address on Sunday, Duterte declared that the officials he
accused would have their day in court, but quickly added while reading the list
that "my mouth has no due process".
He
justified his reading of the list, saying he has a sworn duty to inform the
public about the state of "narco-politics" in the country.
On
July 8, 2016, the left-wing political
party, Bagong Alyansang
Makabayan, represented by Liza Maza of GABRIELA Women's
Party, both allies with the current
government, asked Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte to investigate the recent vigilante killings
of suspected drug
pushers. Ifugao congressman
Teodoro Baguilat called for an investigation because of concerns about the
death rate of suspected drug pushers as well as the legitimacy of their labels.
Those killed by police and vigilantes had no due process, of course, and so no
evidence of their supposed crimes was presented. This is the same for the
'voluntary surrendering' likewise cited. People appeared on the lists by the
barangays and PNP without evidence of any crime, such that thousands of people
were summoned to the barangay under threat of arrest or even death without any
evidence of criminal activity.
Opposition senator and human rights lawyer Leila de Lima of the Liberal Party condemned the killings and urged the Philippine
Congress to investigate. She called for an end of vigilante killings of
drug suspects. On her privilege speech at Senate on August 2, she noted that "we cannot wage the
war against drugs with blood..." De Lima laments the indifference of
the new government to extrajudicial killings and warns that more innocent
people will suffer if the killings fail to stop.[55] The Archbishop of Manila Luis Antonio Tagle condemns the extralegal killings and murders under Rodrigo Duterte.
However, human rights groups and the
families of those who died say that they were poor Filipinos, killed without an
accusation or a trial. The Times reported Phelim Kine, a deputy director
of Human Rights Watch in Asia, as saying, “These are not the wealthy and
powerful drug lords who actually have meaningful control over supply of drugs
on the streets in the Philippines.”
The president has also accused five
police generals of protecting drug lords, without any specific evidence. A
mayor, the mayor’s son and a prominent businessman have also been accused of
drug trafficking by Duterte who threatened their lives if they refused to
surrender.
ABS-CBN, one of the country’s top broadcasters,
reported that 603 people had been killed since Duterte was elected, with 211
murdered by unidentified gunmen, according to the Agence France Presse./.
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All comments [ 11 ]
Rodrigo Duterte was criticized by groups like Human Rights Watch for the extrajudicial killings carried out by the Davao Death Squad, a vigilante group with which he was allegedly involved.
In the first two weeks of Rodrigo Duterte's presidency, more than 100 suspected drug dealers had been killed, 1,844 arrested and 660,000 drug users and dealers had surrendered.
Opposition senator and human rights lawyer Leila de Lima of the Liberal Party condemned the killings and urged the Philippine Congress to investigate.
Lethal actions are only warranted if there is an immediate threat against officers...there should not be a deliberate attempt to kill.
Across the Philippines, the killing of some 1,300 drug suspects in the last two months has frightened hundreds of thousands of people.
Not just human rights catastrophe but also a political chaos.
As the body count soars, some say the real threat to the Philippines is not drugs but the President himself.
Now, it’s the Philippines’ turn, and Duterte’s war may turn out to be the most ferocious yet. “This fight against drugs will continue to the last day of my term,” he said.
So cruel!
“I don’t care about human rights, believe me” Duterte got elected because he promised to be tough on crime.
In other words, the statistics show what any visitor to the country may easily see: Filipinos are not degenerates, who need to be protected from themselves, but are mostly a nation of decent, sober, law-abiding and God-fearing people.
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