Pubdate: Sat, 20 Aug 2016
Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer (Philippines)
Copyright: 2016 Philippine Daily Inquirer
Contact:  http://www.inquirer.net/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1073
Author: Leila B. Salaverria

UN EXEC ACCEPTS PALACE CHALLENGE TO VISIT PH

THE WAR of words between President Duterte and the United Nations 
escalated on Thursday, with a UN envoy warning that "state actors" 
could be held responsible over hundreds of killings in the 
government's controversial crackdown on illegal drugs.

Challenged by presidential chief legal counsel Salvador Panelo to 
come over and see for herself the real situation, UN special 
rapporteur on summary executions Agnes Callamard tweeted on Friday: 
"Invitation to investigate welcomed. Ready to 'see for myself.'"

In a statement, presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella said that 
the "seeming incomprehension by local and international observers" 
was "more alarming than the pandemic use and trade of illegal drugs 
in the Philippines."

Legal obligations

More than 1,500 people have died in Mr. Duterte's fight against 
narcotics, Philippine National Police Director General Ronald dela 
Rosa told a Senate hearing on Thursday, saying that 665 drug suspects 
were killed in "legitimate (police) operations" with another 889 
killed by vigilantes.

UN experts called on the Duterte administration to end targeted 
killings and the extrajudicial executions of drug suspects. "Claims 
to fight the illicit drug trade do not absolve the government from 
its international legal obligations and do not shield state actors or 
others from responsibility for illegal killings," Callamard, said in 
a statement on Thursday.

Also on Thursday, two UN rights experts said that Duterte's 
directives calling on law enforcers and the public to kill suspected 
drug traffickers "amount to incitement to violence and killing, a 
crime under international law."

The warning came a day after President Duterte, who swept to a 
landslide election victory in May largely on a pledge to kill 
thousands of criminals, called the UN "stupid" and vowed to continue 
his antinarcotics offensive despite mounting criticism, including 
from UN chief Ban Ki-moon.

"When you are in New York or somewhere else, 10,000 kilometers or 
miles away from the Philippines and then you make such judgments, 
that's recklessness," Panelo said of Callamard's statement. "Those 
statements are misplaced and baseless, and they better come over and 
see for themselves the real situation," he added.

Vigilante killings

Abella said on yesterday that the President had ordered an 
investigation of police personnel in connection with possible 
incidents of vigilante or mistaken killings.

"The President decries the attribution of killings to the Philippine 
government. This is simply unfair, especially to the hardworking men 
and women in uniform who risk their lives and limbs to win the war 
against drugs," Abella added.

The Palace official blamed the previous administration for not doing 
enough to curb the drug problem and the "disturbing rise of 
'narcopoliticians'" who use drug money to buy votes, and said that 
President Duterte was now dealing with the matter.

It has resulted in a number of deaths, Abella said, "but even more 
surprisingly, in the surrender of hundreds of thousands of users," he added.

It appeared that a number of the killings were perpetrated by those 
involved in illegal drug operations, Abella said, adding that "[t]he 
nature of a number of deaths imply internecine, or organizational 
killings, within the drug trade."

Ensure public safety

Abella said the government's principal concern was ensuring the 
safety and security of citizens, leading it to undertake a purging of 
bad eggs within the police ranks.

"Crime rate has significantly decreased. A general cleanup of police 
ranks on assignment has been undertaken when the President assumed 
office," he said.

Abella said the government approach was to treat drugs as a public 
health and social issue, as well as a matter of national security.

When he took office on June 30, Mr. Duterte told a crowd in Manila: 
"If you know of any addicts, go ahead and kill them yourself as 
getting their parents to do it would be too painful." However, Panelo 
said the UN should not take such statements seriously. "He is just 
asking the public to cooperate with the campaign."

Duterte's spokespersons have described his statements as hyperbole, 
although the police have reported killing more than 600 people since 
he took office.

Panelo insisted police only killed suspects in self-defense while the 
other deaths were the work of drug syndicates who feared their 
members would surrender and cooperate with authorities.

"How can you stop the killing of members of the syndicates? You 
cannot be guarding them all the time," Panelo said.

Condemned

International and local rights groups, some lawmakers and church 
leaders have condemned the killings while the Senate will continue 
its investigation next week into possible rights violations during 
police operations.

Dela Rosa said yesterday that law enforcers would not be deterred by 
the Senate investigation and that their campaign was just starting. 
"It's a low (point) when we are being investigated but we go on ... 
we never back down," he said.

UN special rapporteur on the right to health, Dainius Puras, said the 
fight against the illegal drugs trade must "respect the human rights 
of each person."

But Mr. Duterte's spokesperson Martin Andanar said the public 
supported the crackdown. "President Duterte has time and again warned 
us during the (election) campaign that if you vote for me, this is 
going to be bloody," he said, adding that there is "no war without casualties."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom