EDITORIAL - Rights-based campaign vs drugs

Human rights are supposed to underpin the criminal justice system and national security operations in democratic Philippines. The bloody crackdown on the illegal drug trade in the previous administration, however, turned the country into a global hotspot for human rights violations.

The drug killings were on top of the murders of environmental activists, legal professionals and journalists even after the restoration of democracy in 1986, along with the human rights violations in connection with counterinsurgency operations.

Now the government has informed the United Nations that a Human Rights Coordinating Council will be created in the Philippines to promote an approach to drug control and counterterrorism that is steeped in human rights, accountability and the rule of law. The move is in line with initiatives under the UN Joint Program on Human Rights. The UNJP is a three-year program launched in 2021, under which the UN provides technical and capacity-building assistance to the Philippines for rights-based approaches to drug control and other matters such as reforms in the justice sector.

Speaking for the government, Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin announced the move in Geneva, Switzerland as the UN marked the 75th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights on Oct. 10. While the Philippine commitment is laudable, its fulfillment needs careful monitoring.

From the start, human rights have been enshrined in the basic law of the Philippines. Yet the country saw gross human rights violations during martial law and the Marcos dictatorship. In the six years since 2016 under Rodrigo Duterte, over 6,000 people were killed in what law enforcement agencies described as legitimate operations against the illegal drug scourge. Drug suspects who weren’t killed were packed like sardines in poorly ventilated jails, in conditions that also violated the rights of persons deprived of liberty.

Police officials have said that given the nature of the illegal drug scourge, an end to drug killings cannot be guaranteed. But it’s not impossible to prevent police abuses in the conduct of the anti-narcotics campaign. Bersamin told the UN that comprehensive reforms in the justice sector include setting up a training institute for forensic science and investigation.

The judiciary can do its part by speeding up adjudication. Impatience with snail-paced justice is among the reasons why there are Filipinos who support extrajudicial short cuts in law enforcement. Old habits die hard; after six years of being given free rein under Oplan Tokhang and Double Barrel to fight the drug menace, law enforcers must be made to go along with initiatives to promote human rights in the anti-drug campaign.