US senators ask Trump to delay Duterte's visit

MANILA, Philippines — Twelve United States senators urged US President Donald Trump to delay his invitation to President Rodrigo Duterte to visit the White House until the Philippine leader exerts efforts to affirm human rights.

In a letter dated May 24, 2017, the 12 lawmakers from the Democratic Party wrote that the invitation to Duterte may send a wrong signal to the public that the US is supporting human rights violations in the Philippines.

“While the Philippines remains a vital US ally, we are concerned that hosting Pres. Duterte at the White House while this campaign of mass atrocities continue would send the wrong message,” the letter read.

The senators' letter came a day after the transcript of the phone conversation of the two leaders was leaked. In the transcript, Trump repeatedly invited Duterte to visit him at the Oval Office.

“Inviting President Duterte to the White House while this murderous campaign continues could be interpreted as an endorsement of his government's gross human rights abuses. Such a perception would undermine efforts to restrain Duterte's violent campaign, which would further call into question the legality and appropriateness of continued US assistance to the Philippines' law enforcement agencies and security forces,” it added.

These senators are:

1. Edward Markey
2. Tim Kane
3. Sherrod Brown
4. Ron Wyden
5. Benjamin Cardin
6. Jeffrey Merkley
7. Cory Booker
8. Richard Durbin
9. Chris Van Hollen
10. Al Franken
11. Amy Klobuchar
12. Kirsten Gillibrand

The senators said the invitation to Duterte would also reinforce the "misguided" approach to drug dependence that is embodied in the government’s Oplan Tokhang.

The US government officials said that Duterte, under the guise of his war on drugs, “has presided over a brutal campaign of extrajudicial murders that has resulted in the deaths of thousands of drug users and low-level drug dealers.”

The United Nations in April 2016 identified the need for balanced approach to drug control that puts the health and well-being of people, families, communities at center of all responses, the US senator said. Duterte’s campaign, on the other hand, reveals the an indifference to the human toll of drug addiction

The senators also cited past remarks of the Filipino leader comparing the killing of drug users with that of Adolf Hitler's genocide.

Human rights groups say the anti-drug campaign has about 7,000 to 9,000 deaths linked to it. It also resulted in the deaths of 4,600 suspects in police operations.

“Duterte must stop this campaign of murder, adopt a comprehensive public health approach to drug addiction that centers on treatment,” the senators said that the US for its part must provide assistance for this.

“We urge you to denounce these violations of basic human rights and Pres. Duterte's government to change course,” they told Trump.

American communities have also struggled with the scourge of drugs but, for the lawmakers, the problem should be dealt humane way.

READ: FULL TEXT: Leaked transcript of Trump-Duterte phone call