UN human rights chief: ‘Philippines drug war no model for any country’

MANILA, Philippines — President Duterte’s drug policies in the Philippines and lack of respect for rule of law and international standards “should not be considered a model by any country,” the United Nations human rights chief said.

Addressing the Human Rights Council in Geneva on the state of global human rights, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet turned to the Philippines and Duterte’s war on drugs and stressed that state policies “should not be more of a threat” to people’s lives “than the drugs they are abusing.”

In the Philippines, Bachelet said several sources now estimate that up to 27,000 people may have been killed in the context of the campaign against illegal drugs since mid-2016.  

“Despite serious allegations of extrajudicial killings, only one case – the widely reported killing of a teenage boy – has been subject to investigation and prosecution,” Bachelet said on Wednesday.

Duterte has warned of a “bloodier” war on drugs in the coming months and ordered the release of the narco list or the list of politicians linked to illegal drug activities ahead of the campaign period for local candidates.

Bachelet said she was also extremely concerned that Philippine lawmakers were considering “measures to reintroduce the death penalty for drug-related crimes and reduce the age of criminal responsibility from 15 to 12 – or even nine years old.”

Bachelet, former president of Chile, encouraged the Philippines to adopt a public health approach and harm reduction initiatives that comply with human rights standards in dealing with the drug problem as recommended to the 2016 General Assembly Special Session.  

She noted that special rapporteurs of the Human Rights Council have been subjected to threats, and opposition politicians, human rights defenders and journalists have been threatened, attacked and jailed. 

In a Facebook post, Agnès Callamard, the special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions at the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, welcomed Bachelet’s statement on the situation in the Philippines.

“It is important that the OHCHR (Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights) takes full note of the massive human rights crisis in the Philippines and acts accordingly. This statement is a crucial step. The Philippine authorities must now respond effectively to the repeated denunciations of the situation in the country,” Callamard said.

Callamard also called on the Philippine government anew to allow “independent and impartial investigations into the thousands of killings they have themselves attributed” to the police and security forces. 

“The continuing absence of effective investigations amount to separate violations of the right to life,” she said.

Callamard added the government should undertake independent and impartial investigations into the killings of human rights defenders, lawyers, indigenous and land activists and many others; and develop and implement effective protection measures for those under threat. 

“The authorities must ensure that the families of the victims of arbitrary killings are given access to remedies. Importantly, there must be a stated commitment and practice of non-repetition,” Callamard said. 

Congress, she said, should strongly and clearly refuse the re-introduction of the death penalty that would contravene international standards.

The UN-backed International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) vowed it will continue to monitor extrajudicial responses to suspected drug-related offenses and to draw the attention of the international community to them.

In its latest Annual Report published on Tuesday, coinciding with the 50th anniversary of the independent drugs control board, the INCB “notes with serious concern that in several countries, in particular in South and Southeast Asia, extrajudicial acts of violence reportedly continue against people suspected of drug-related activities, frequently at the direct behest of senior political figures or with their active encouragement or tacit approval.”

The INCB condemned extrajudicial acts of violence against persons suspected of drug-related activities. – With Romina Cabrera