PH RIGHTS VIOLATIONS INCLUDE KILLINGS – UN REPORT

THE government’s “heavy-handed” approach in countering security threats and illegal drugs led to serious human rights violations in the Philippines, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Right said in a report on Thursday.

The report said these violations include “killings and arbitrary detentions.”

“Persistent impunity and formidable barriers to accessing justice need to be urgently addressed,” it said.

The UN Human Rights Office’s Michelle Bachelet urged the government to stop “Project Tokhang” and put an end to “extrajudicial killings, arbitrary detention and other violence targeting suspected drug offenders and people using drugs.”

The report is based on nearly 900 submissions as well as government input, court and police records, and interviews with victims and witnesses.

It noted that more than 8,663 people have been killed since the government’s campaign against illegal drugs began four years ago, “with some estimates putting the real toll at more than triple that number.” The Philippine National Police placed the death toll of what officials call the “drug war” at more than 5,600.

“Unfortunately, the report has documented deep-seated impunity for serious human rights violations, and victims have been deprived of justice for the killings of their loved ones,” Bachelet said.

“People who use or sell drugs do not lose their human rights,” she said.

Ahead of the report, the Philippine diplomatic mission emailed a letter from Ambassador Evan Garcia to reporters in Geneva saying his government “has always maintained a positive approach to addressing claims and allegations and investigating claims of violations, on the basis of facts.”