Duterte admits to extrajudicial killings
Rodrigo Duterte, the Philippine president, has admitted for the first time that extrajudicial killings have taken place during his government’s crackdown on drugs, fuelling existing demands from rights groups for an international probe.
Duterte, who is known for his provocative, expletiveridden statements, made his surprise confession on Thursday while speaking to government officials at the presidential palace. He said he had challenged the military to remove him if they were not satisfied with his leadership.
“I (asked) the military, what is my fault? Did I steal even one peso?” Duterte said. “My only sin is the extrajudicial killings.”
The controversial president has pledged in the past to protect police officers who kill in the line of duty, but he has always denied claims that thousands of deaths during the country’s war on drugs were state-sponsored.
His most recent outburst has added credibility to investigations by human rights groups that allege smalltime drugs pedlars have been targeted in an orchestrated killing spree.
According to official statistics, 4,500 people have been killed by the police during anti-drugs operations, but some estimates by rights activists claim the actual death toll is nearer 12,000.
Harry Roque, Duterte’s spokesman, quickly clarified that the president was “not serious” and was only being “playful.”
Presidential legal counsel Salvador Panelo said Duterte meant drug killings are the only accusation of wrongdoing brought against him. Panelo suggested that the president may not have expressed himself clearly in Tagalog, the national language, and noted that he had repeatedly denied condoning unlawful killings by law enforcers in the past.
Duterte has said he sometimes finds it difficult to speak in Tagalog because he’s more proficient in Bisaya, the widely spoken dialect in the south, where he served as a longtime mayor before becoming president in 2016.
Duterte has denied allowing extrajudicial killings, although he has repeatedly and publicly threatened drug suspects with death.
Minar Pimple, senior director for global operations at Amnesty International, said: “This ‘playful’ comment is grotesque cruelty at best, and a damning indictment of his government’s murderous campaign at worst.”
Human Rights Watch said Duterte’s “admission should erase any doubt about the culpability of the president” and prod the International Criminal Court to hasten a review of a complaint against him for mass murder.
THIS ‘PLAYFUL’ COMMENT IS GROTESQUE CRUELTY AT BEST, AND A DAMNING INDICTMENT OF HIS GOVERNMENT’S MURDEROUS CAMPAIGN AT WORST. — MINAR PIMPLE, SENIOR DIRECTOR FOR GLOBAL OPERATIONS AT AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL