Endorse UN inquiry into drug war, HRW urges gov’t

THE PHILIPPINE government should “urgently support” a United Nations (UN)-led investigation into the killings in its war on drugs, New York-based advocacy group Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a statement on Thursday.

“The glaring disparity between the Philippine government’s official death toll and those of credible independent observers underscores the urgent need for a UN-led independent investigation into killings since the drug war began in June 2016,” said Phelim Kine, deputy Asia director at HRW. “The government should welcome a UN effort to establish an impartial and verifiable death toll as a crucial first step in accountability for wrongful deaths.”

“UN member countries at the Human Rights Council should press for a UN-led investigation into the ‘drug war killings,’” HRW also said. It noted further that Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter S. Cayetano told UN SecretaryGeneral António Guterres in October last year that the Philippine government would “fully cooperate and work with” UN independent experts “to conduct a fair an objective assessment of the human rights situation in the country.” The Philippine government has not followed through on this commitment, HRW said.

“The Philippine government can either seek UN assistance to investigate abuses in its antidrug campaign or be the subject of a UN Human Rights Council resolution creating an investigatory body to do the job,” Mr. Kine said. “Ultimately, those responsible for drug war murders will be brought to justice. The question for Philippine officials is whether they want to be assisting the prosecutor or facing one.”