Probe Duterte’s drug war, UN rights experts pressed

MANILA, Philippines — A group of human rights advocates yesterday reiterated the call for the United Nations Human Rights Council to investigate the Duterte administration’s campaign against illegal drugs.

“The Philippines’ descent into an all-out human rights crisis, with thousands of extrajudicial executions and a crackdown on basic liberties, has generated an outcry, but no strong action from United Nations member states,” Laila Matar, deputy director for United Nations of the Human Rights Watch’s office in Geneva, said.

Matar said the killings started immediately after Duterte assumed office in 2016.

“The police insists that those killed were drug dealers and users resisting arrest, but there have been countless credible reports of the police and their agents planting guns and drugs on victims’ bodies to justify their execution-style killings,” she said.

In March, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said around 27,000 people had been killed, with only one brought to justice.

However, the Philippine National Police said only 6,600 people were killed in the government’s war on drugs.

“The intrepid human rights defenders, politicians and journalists willing to report on or denounce the drug war have been harassed, threatened or arrested. Many activists and human rights defenders have been killed in the context of the government’s counterinsurgency campaign,” Matar said.

 “The Philippines is a member of the UN Human Rights Council and is expected to uphold the highest standards of human rights. Instead, the government has refused to cooperate with UN rights mechanisms and even publicly smeared UN experts who condemn its violations,” she added.

Matar said it is “not too late” for UN member states to prevent the killing of more drugs suspects by pushing an international probe.

Malacañang had earlier rejected the call, saying it “smacks of unpardonable intrusions on our sovereignty.”