Politics, Asia - Pacific

Philippines' Duterte warns of shooting of advocates

International human rights watch claims Duterte has unleashed a human rights calamity

17.08.2017 - Update : 17.08.2017
Philippines' Duterte warns of shooting of advocates

By Hader Glang

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines

President Rodrigo Duterte warned Wednesday, he will order the shooting of human rights advocates amid a rising number of drug-related deaths in the country.

The killings of 21 drug suspects in Bulacan province from the police’s overnight raids between Monday and Tuesday was the highest death toll since Duterte launched his war on drugs last year.

"Tell them, 'Police, shoot those who are part of it. If they are obstructing justice, you shoot them," Rappler quoted Mr. Duterte as saying in a speech at an event held by the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption in Malacañang on Wednesday.

"So they can really see the kinds of human rights."

He said "the ones who died in Bulacan, 32, in a massive raid, that is good. We could just kill another 32 everyday, then maybe we could reduce what ails this country."

The President lambasted both local and international human rights groups for condemning his drug war, saying these groups were turning a blind eye on the victims of drug-induced crimes.

An international human rights watch group said Duterte has unleashed a human rights calamity on the Philippines during his first year in office and that the government’s murderous war on drugs, drug-related overcrowding of jails, and the harassment and prosecution of drug war critics has caused a steep decline in respect for basic rights since his inauguration on June 30, 2016.

Meanwhile, Duterte said he will one day file “conspiracy” charges against these groups, particularly on the Commission on Human Rights, which government tasked to check on allegations of abuse by state forces.

The President did not elaborate his plan. He instead acknowledged that the killings in police operations and his comments praising these would again raise alarm among human rights group.

He lamented the continued operation of illegal drug traders in some parts of the country, warning mayors in drug-infested areas to shape up or face suspension.

The Duterte administration has many times defended its drug war against critics, saying reported figures- from 7,000 to 9,000- were overblown.

Recent PNP data show that a total of 3,451 drug personalities were killed in anti-drug operations from July 1, 2016 to July 26, 2017.

The PNP has also determined that out of the 12,833 homicide cases from July 1, 2016 to June 16, 2017, 2,098 deaths were drug-related and 2,535 not drug-related. A total of 8,200 homicide cases were under investigation with motives to be determined, the PNP said. 

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