+ A
A -
Reuters
GENEVA
The UN Human Rights Council voted on Thursday to set up an investigation into mass killings during Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s so-called ‘war on drugs’ - a step that activists said was long overdue.
Duterte’s government says that around 6,600 people have been killed by police in shootouts with suspected drug dealers since he was elected in 2016 on a platform of crushing crime. Activists say the death toll is at least 27,000.
The first-ever resolution on the Philippines, led by Iceland, was adopted by a vote of 18 countries in favour and 14 against, including China, with 15 abstentions, including Japan.
“This is not just a step towards paying justice for the thousands of families of victims of extrajudicial killings in the Philippines, but it is also a message that we collectively send out to those who have praised President Duterte,” said Ellecer “Budit” Carlos of the Manila-based rights group iDefend. “This war on drugs, as we have repeatedly said, it’s a sham war,” he told a news briefing in Geneva.
Filipino activists say tens of thousands are being killed as police terrorise poor communities, using cursory drug “watch lists” to identify suspected users or dealers, and executing many of them under the guise of sting operations.
GENEVA
The UN Human Rights Council voted on Thursday to set up an investigation into mass killings during Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s so-called ‘war on drugs’ - a step that activists said was long overdue.
Duterte’s government says that around 6,600 people have been killed by police in shootouts with suspected drug dealers since he was elected in 2016 on a platform of crushing crime. Activists say the death toll is at least 27,000.
The first-ever resolution on the Philippines, led by Iceland, was adopted by a vote of 18 countries in favour and 14 against, including China, with 15 abstentions, including Japan.
“This is not just a step towards paying justice for the thousands of families of victims of extrajudicial killings in the Philippines, but it is also a message that we collectively send out to those who have praised President Duterte,” said Ellecer “Budit” Carlos of the Manila-based rights group iDefend. “This war on drugs, as we have repeatedly said, it’s a sham war,” he told a news briefing in Geneva.
Filipino activists say tens of thousands are being killed as police terrorise poor communities, using cursory drug “watch lists” to identify suspected users or dealers, and executing many of them under the guise of sting operations.
