Philippines open to UN drugs war inquiry, if it is by a ‘credible, objective’ investigator
The Philippines will allow an investigation into claims of human-rights abuses in its war on drugs, but not one conducted by the UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial killings, a senior official said yesterday.
More than 30 mostly western countries have called on the Philippines to allow UN expert Agnes Callamard to look into the thousands of killings in President Rodrigo Duterte’s 19-month crackdown.
Ms Callamard’s specialist areas are extrajudicial killings and summary and arbitrary executions.
Mr Duterte’s spokesman, lawyer Harry Roque, said the Philippines welcomed any investigation by a “credible, objective and unbiased” rapporteur, who is also “an authority in the field that they seek to investigate”.
“Definitely not Agnes Callamard,” Mr Roque said. “It’s her fault the home state does not want her in.”
More than 4,000 Filipinos have been killed by police during the drugs war, and hundreds, possibly thousands, more by unidentified armed men.
Human-rights groups and Mr Duterte’s political opponents say executions of drug users and small-time peddlers are widespread and systematic. The authorities deny that and say those killed were all dealers who put up violent resistance.
Last week, Amnesty International in the Philippines said “meaningful investigations” into such killings had failed to take place.
A prosecutor at the International Criminal Court in The Hague this month started a preliminary examination into a complaint accusing Mr Duterte and at least 11 officials of crimes against humanity.
The president has welcomed the move.
Mr Roque said he had a lawyer in mind who could do the job instead of Ms Callamard, but would not reveal the name. Mr Duterte has previously said he would welcome an investigation by Ms Callamard, on the condition that she agreed to have a public debate with him.
She angered the government in May last year when she gave a speech at a policy forum during a visit in an unofficial capacity.