Addicts risk all in Philippine drug war
More than 2,000 people have died violent deaths since Duterte took office two months ago
Pedicab driver Reyjin dives into a neighbour’s house for a quick meth fix, fearful of taking a bullet to the head in Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s brutal war on drugs but unable to quit.
More than 2,000 people have died violent deaths since Duterte took office two months ago and immediately implemented his scorched-earth plans to eradicate drugs in society, ordering police to shoot dead traffickers and urging ordinary citizens to kill addicts.
The bloodbath has seen unknown assailants kill more than half the victims, according to police statistics, raising fears that security forces and hired assassins are roaming through communities and shooting dead anyone suspected of being involved in drugs.
Armed police constantly circle Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte, who is waging a bloody war on crime, has justified the large-scale killing of drug users by suggesting the victims were not human.
Duterte, who has seen about two thousand people killed since he was elected in May, made the remarks late Friday as he shrugged off the United Nations’ concerns over human rights in his country.
“Crime against humanity? In the first place, I’d like to be frank with you: are they humans? What is your definition of a human being?” he told soldiers while visiting an army camp, according to transcripts of his speech released afterwards.
“Human rights? Use it properly in the right context if you have the brains,” he added.
“You cannot wage a war without killing,” Duterte said, adding that many drug users were beyond rehabilitation.
His remarks came after various UN officials, including SecretaryGeneral Ban Ki-moon in June condemned his apparent support for extra-judicial killings.
Duterte’s comments come after his national police chief Ronald Dela Rosa on Friday urged drug users to kill their traffickers and burn their homes. in Reyjin’s Manila slum community, but he continues to snort the fumes of the highly addictive methamphetamine known as “shabu” that Duterte has warned is destroying the lives of millions of poor Filipinos.
“It’s scary because I could be next,” said the gaunt, gaptoothed 28-year-old, speaking to AFP on the condition his identity not be revealed for security reasons. The father-of-three said two masked motorcycle gunmen riding in tandem on a motorcycle had shot dead a woman who sold small amounts of drugs to him and other residents.
“She was sitting in the alley when she took two bullets to the head,” he said.
Such riding-in-tandem murders are one of the most common forms of killings by the shadowy assassins.
Cardboard justice
Often a piece of cardboard, with “drug peddler” or “drug addict” written on it, is placed on the corpse. This has led to the war on crime becoming known as “cardboard justice”.
Meanwhile, police have reported killing 756 people they have branded drug suspects.
National police chief Ronald dela Rosa has repeatedly defended his officers, insisting they only kill when their own lives are in danger.
The United Nations, the US government and human rights groups have expressed alarm at the bloodshed, with some critics warning the Philippines is in the midst of a reign of terror as authorities act with no regard for the law.
Duterte and Dela Rosa have repeatedly insisted they are acting within the boundaries of the law.