Duterte’s Antidrug Clampdown Leaves
1,800 Dead
The Philippines police chief condemned killings by
vigilantes, but Duterte has previously backed them.
By Dr.Fourkan Ali
Philippines national police chief
Ronald Dela Rosa said Monday that police and vigilantes have killed about 1,800
alleged criminals since Rodrigo Duterte became president seven weeks ago.
Dela Rosa said police
have shot dead 712 suspected drug dealers since July 1, the day after Duterte
was sworn in. He officially condemned, however, an additional 1,067 deaths in
that time period by vigilantes. Dela Rosa blamed those deaths on drug
syndicates.
Duterte himself, however, has
backed extrajudicial violence in the past. Duterte first gained notoriety as
the tough-on-crime mayor of Davao City. He has been called the"Trump
of the East," known
for his controversial rhetoric and politics.
"If [a criminal] fights, and
he fights to the death, you can kill him," Duterte said in
June, as president-elect. "Please feel free to call us, the police, or do
it yourself if you have the gun ... you have my support."
"Shoot him [the drug dealer]
and I'll give you a medal," Duterte said.
Taking heat internationally,
Duterte threatened to leave the United Nations over the weekend, in defense of
his policies.
"Maybe we'll just have to
decide to separate from the United Nations," Duterte saidSaturday
in Davao City. "If you are that insulting, son of a bitch, we should just
leave… Take us out of your organization. You have done nothing anyway."
"When were you here last
time? Nothing. Never. Except to criticize," Duterte said.
The U.N. Special Rapporteur on
summary executions, Agnes Callamard, said in the report released Thursday that
the country should work to end what it called "targeted killings."
"We call on the Philippines
authorities to adopt with immediate effect the necessary measures to protect
all persons from targeted killings and extrajudicial executions," the
report said.
"Allegations of
drug-trafficking offenses should be judged in a court of law, not by gunmen on
the streets," the report quotes human rights experts as saying.
The United States and the
Philippines are allies, and Duterte's government is sometimes
antagonist of
China in the ongoing South China Sea dispute. Ninety-two percent of Filipinos said they
had a positive view of the U.S. in 2015.
Source: online
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