Karapatan condemns dismissal of grave threats case vs Duterte

MANILA, Philippines — Rights group Karapatan yesterday condemned the Quezon City prosecutor’s office’s decision to dismiss the grave threats complaint filed by ACT Teachers party-list Rep. France Castro against former president Rodrigo Duterte.

“In dismissing the complaint, the prosecutor claimed that Duterte was not serious in hurling death threats against Castro and was merely joking,” Karapatan said in a statement.

The group stressed that Duterte’s death threat against Castro is a serious matter, recalling the former president’s war on drugs that resulted in around 30,000 casualties.

Karapatan has documented 422 cases of activists being extrajudicially killed during Duterte’s six-year term and an additional 574 victims of frustrated extrajudicial killing.

“These all happened after Duterte’s explicit kill orders through public statements in front of soldiers and police,” Karapatan said.

Duterte is currently under investigation by the International Criminal Court for killings dating back to his time as Davao City mayor.

“It is never a laughing matter to be threatened by a brutal fascist with a murderous history like Duterte,” the group added.

Karapatan urged the Quezon City prosecutor to reconsider its decision and pursue charges against Duterte for the grave threats he issued against Castro.