Govt, UN in talks for new rapporteur

THE Philippines is in talks with the United Nations (UN) over the possible designation of another rapporteur who will conduct the investigation on President Rodrigo Duterte’s war against illegal drugs, Malacañang said on Friday.

This developed after Palace spokes special rapporteur on extrajudicial executions Agnes Callamard, who has been the subject of Duterte’s tirades, was “not welcome” in the Philippines.

Roque said Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano was in touch with UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres.

“The last word that I have with (Cayetano) in this regard is apparently, the UN secretary general said that they will be proposing names. We are awaiting the names, possible rapporteurs. So that’s where we are,” Roque told reporters.

“There was already a communication between the UN secretary general himself

and our secretary of foreign affairs. Let’s await the list of possible names to be given by the UN secretary general,” he added.

Roque insisted that Callamard, who requested the Philippine govto look into the reported deaths associated with the drug war, would never be given the chance to conduct an inquiry.

He said the Duterte administration could not forgive Callamard when she visited the Philippines in May 2017, even though she was “uninvited.”

“Anghindipomapatawadnatinesi Callamard, pumasokng Pilipinas uninvited and made her conclusions naparabagangnag

imbestigasyonnasiya (What we cannot forgive is that when Callamard went to the Philippines, uninvited and made her conclusions as if she investigated),” Roque said.

“Sig ur op om at a tag alan ba go ma hi lo mi yong mg asug at na nag result a do on saginaw a ni Callamard (Perhaps, it will take some time to heal the wounds which resulted from Callamard’s actions),” he added.

Iceland Foreign Minister Gudlaugur Thor Thordarson had called on the Philippines to approve Callamard’s inquiry into Duterte’s controversial war on drugs.

In response, Duterte instructed the Philippine National Police (PNP) on March 1 not to cooperate in any investigation into the government’s drug war.

On Wednesday, March 7, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein slammed Duterte for giving such an order to the police.

“I deplore President Duterte’s statement last week to elite police units that they should not cooperate ‘when it comes to human rights, or whoever rapporteur it is’ this Council’s Special Rapporteur on extra-judicial killings by the authorities,” Zeid said.

“The government has a duty to uphold human rights and to engage with persons appointed by this council,” he added.

Roque, however, disputed Zeid’s claims, emphasizing that while the Philippine government has obligations under international human rights law, the council should not disregard a memberstate’s sovereignty.

“My reply to His Excellency, the street – the entire human rights mechanism of the UN is built around sovereignty, and it will not work if rapporteurs become untrustworthy as far as sovereign states are concerned,” he said.

The government has a standing invitation for Callamard to visit the Philippines and investigate the human rights situation here, but the special rapporteur rejected this as it came with conditions, such as holding a public debate with the President.

Callamard visited Manila in May to attend a drug policy forum co-sponsored by the Commission on Human Rights and the Free Legal Assistance Group, a group of human rights lawyers.

At the time, Callamard was criticized for paying a visit to the Philippines, but she said that she did not come to assess the country’s human rights situation and that she told the government about her arrival.

The government asserted that it did not sanction summary killings or police abuses in its antinarcotics campaign.