Court opens file on drug killings
THE Philippine Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered the release of police documents on thousands of killings of suspects in the president’s antidrug crackdown, in a ruling that human rights groups said could shed light on allegations of extrajudicial killings.
Supreme Court spokesman Brian Keith Hosaka said the court ordered the government solicitor-general to provide the police reports to two rights groups which had sought them.
The 15-member court, whose justices are meeting in northern Baguio City, has yet to rule on a separate petition to declare President Rodrigo Duterte’s anti-drug campaign unconstitutional.
Solicitor-General Jose Calida had earlier agreed to release the voluminous police documents to the court but rejected the requests of the two groups, the Free Legal Assistance Group and the Center for International Law, arguing that such a move would undermine law enforcement and national security. The two groups welcomed the court order.
“It’s a big step forward for transparency and accountability,” said Jose Manuel “Chel” Diokno, who heads the Free Legal Assistance Group.
He said the documents would help the group of human rights lawyers scrutinise the police-led crackdown that was launched when Mr Duterte (pictured) came to office in mid-2016, and the massive number of killings that the president and police say occurred when suspects fought back and endangered law enforcers, Mr Diokno said.
“This is an emphatic statement by the highest court of the land that it will not allow the rule of law to be trampled upon in the war on drugs. It is a very important decision,” said Joel Butuyan, president of the Center for International Law.
More than 5000 mostly poor drug suspects have died in purported gun battles with the police, alarming Western governments, United Nations rights experts and human rights watchdogs.