HRW: Japan should call out Duterte over drug war killings, abuses

MANILA, Philippines — Tokyo should publicly call on the Philippine government to end its "murderous" campaign to eradicate illegal drugs while President Rodrigo Duterte is embarking on a three-day state visit in Japan which started on Sunday, Human Rights Watch said.

Human Rights Watch, a New York-based watchdog, said that Duterte's visit to Japan would provide Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his government a "fresh opportunity" to end their "long silence" on Manila's war on drugs which rights groups said has claimed at least 12,000 lives, a figure disputed by Filipino officials.

Abe should also urge Duterte to take steps to hold those responsible for these deaths accountable, according to Phelim Kine, the deputy director of the Asia division of HRW.

"While the United States and the European Parliament have publicly criticized the extrajudicial killings of more than 12,000 suspected drug users and dealers since Duterte took office 15 months ago, the Japanese government has adopted a wholly uncritical business-as-usual posture with the Philippine government," Kine said in a statement over the weekend.

This is not the first time that HRW has called on Tokyo to be more critical of the government's campaign against narcotics.

In February, HRW also criticized Japan for its "business as usual" stance on the abuses committed in Duterte's drug war.

HRW contrasted this with the strong stand of the United States and the European Union against drug-related killings and human rights abuses alleged to have been committed by police and hooded vigilantes.

The group said then that providing prestige and development assistance to the Philippines without insisting on protections for human rights was not just "wasted opportunity" but also an "encouragement" to the Duterte government.

Kine said that Abe should recognize the "human rights calamity" that the tough-talking Duterte had inflicted on the Philippines, adding that this should be meted with a coordinated response from partners of the Philippines such as Japan which value human rights.

Abe could do this, Kine said, by denouncing the anti-drug campaign, by supporting a United Nations-led investigations into the killings and publicly supporting only voluntary, community-based drug treatment services that adhere to international standards and principles of human rights.

Japan has missed in the past opportunities to call out the Philippines for massive human rights abuses and killings committed as it pursues its anti-drug campaign.

Kine said that this was on display when Abe pledged a five-year, $800 million assistance to the Philippines to promote economic and infrastructure development during the premier's state visit from January 12 to 13.

A month later, Japan's Vice Minister of Defense for International Affairs Ro Manabe endorsed the country's chairmanship of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in 2017.

"Manabe offered this plum support without reference to the rampant extrajudicial executions," Kine said.

The Japan International Cooperation Agency failed to ask the Philippine Department of Health for details on how it would spend $17 million in assistance for the upgrading of drug rehabilitation centers and enhancement of treatment protocols for drug dependents, according to Kine.

Kine added that this could risk the money going to drug-rehabilitation approaches linked to "serious human rights violations" in other parts of Asia.

Duterte's anti-drug campaign has faced stringent criticisms from local and international groups for the alleged human rights abuses authorities have committed in its wake.

The president has recently issued an order transferring the lead authority to conduct the campaign from the Philippine National Police to the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency in an effort to squelch the denunciations.