‘War on drugs’ blamed for deaths of at least 122 children in Philippines
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 (OMCT), 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 Guardian reported.
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-defense. 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.
A recent report by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights warned that rhetoric by the highest officials had potentially emboldened police to behave as though they had “permission to kill”. Rights groups have urged the human rights council to order a further independent inquiry into abuses in the Philippines, as it has previously done for atrocities in Venezuela and Myanmar.
The Philippines government “firmly rejects” the allegations of human rights abuses.
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