Pubdate: Fri, 29 Jul 2016
Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer (Philippines)
Copyright: 2016 Philippine Daily Inquirer
Contact:  http://www.inquirer.net/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1073
Author: Phelim Kine

ALL FILIPINOS' RIGHT TO LIFE NOW AT RISK

PRESIDENT Duterte's State of the Nation Address (Sona) was laced with 
confusing and sometimes contradictory messages. At one point he 
stated rightly that the "rule of law must at all times prevail" and 
that government is obliged to "fulfill the human rights of our citizens."

However, President Duterte's unwillingness to use his Sona to direct 
a thorough investigation into the alarming surge in the killings of 
suspected drug dealers and users in recent weeks, allegedly by the 
police, symbolizes a critical failure on his part to fulfill his 
obligation to defend the rule of law and to uphold and protect the 
rights and freedoms of all Filipinos.

Human Rights Watch encourages President Duterte to ensure that his 
administration's policies reflect those obligations.

Instead of speaking out against the sharp rise in the killings of 
suspected drug dealers and users, and the sinister increase in 
extrajudicial killings of criminal suspects by unknown perpetrators, 
Mr. Duterte implicitly voiced support for such unlawful brutality by 
stating that police can rightly put illegal drug suspects "below the 
ground" if necessary. President Duterte must publicly recognize that 
his duty to respect the rule of law and protect the human rights of 
Filipinos extends to all Filipinos, including criminal suspects and 
those implicated in the drug trade.

It's encouraging to note that Mr. Duterte spoke out for the rights of 
women, reproductive health rights, the rights of the urban poor, the 
country's Muslims, lumad and other indigenous peoples. We hope that 
his administration produces policy initiatives that will provide 
tangible support for that positive rhetoric. But as long as President 
Duterte turns a blind eye to-or implicitly or explicitly 
encourages-summary killings, the fundamental right to life of all 
Filipinos is at risk from potential random extrajudicial violence.

- -PHELIM KINE, Asia deputy director, Human Rights Watch
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom