Philippines’ ‘War on Drugs’
By: Human Rights Watch
Since taking office on June 30, 2016, Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has
carried out a “war on drugs” that has led to the deaths of over 12,000 Filipinos to
date, mostly urban poor. At least 2,555 of the killings have been attributed to the
Philippine National Police. Duterte and other senior officials have instigated and
incited the killings in a campaign that could amount to crimes against humanity.
Human Rights Watch research has found that police are falsifying evidence to
justify the unlawful killings. Despite growing calls for an investigation, Duterte has
vowed to continue the campaign.
Large-scale extrajudicial violence as a crime solution was a marker of Duterte’s
22-year tenure as mayor of Davao City and the cornerstone of his presidential
campaign. On the eve of his May 9, 2016 election victory, Duterte told a crowd of
more than 300,000: “If I make it to the presidential palace I will do just what I did
as mayor. You drug pushers, holdup men, and do-nothings, you better get out
because I'll kill you.”
War on drugs’ blamed for deaths of at
least 122 children in Philippines
By: The Guardian
At least 122 children, including a one-year-old, have been killed during President
Rodrigo Duterte’s “war on drugs” in the Philippines, according to a report that
concluded some children have been deliberately shot at and targeted as proxies.
The study, by the World Organisation Against Torture, adds to growing calls for
the UN human rights council to establish an independent investigation into
abuses committed under Duterte. Rights groups estimate that tens of thousands
of people may have died as a result of unlawful killings during anti-drug
operations launched after his election in 2016.
The report, which examines child deaths between July 2016 and December 2019,
reports that police were responsible for just over half of the killings documented.
Others involved unknown individuals, often wearing masks or hoods, some of
whom allegedly had links to the police.
Some of the children were deliberately killed according to the report, with police
potentially targeting those who had witnessed another killing, or claiming they
were acting in self-defence. In other cases, children were killed as proxies when
the real targets could not be found, as a result of mistaken identities, or were hit
by stray bullets, the report says.
The 122 deaths documented are likely an underestimate, since relatives are often
threatened by police and told not to contact human rights groups for help.
Activists also face constant harassment. Civil society groups were told by Duterte
last year: “I will kill you along with drug addicts. I will decapitate you.”
Only one of the deaths, the killing of 17-year-old Kian delos Santos, which was
captured on film, has led to a conviction. With near total impunity, the deaths
continue: since the start of this year, seven more children have lost their lives.