Rights groups being used to derail drug war — Palace

Drug lords may be using some human rights groups to derail President Duterte’s war on drugs, Malacañang said yesterday as it decried what it called “vicious” attacks against the controversial campaign.

Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said the drug war, which has left more than 3,000 drug suspects dead, has been hurting the multibillionpeso narcotics industry.

“The attacks against the President’s war on drugs have been vicious and non-stop. We do not discount the possibility that some human rights groups have become unwitting tools of drug lords to hinder the strides made by the administration,” Roque said in a statement.

As this developed, Human Rights Watch (HRW) deplored Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano and Roque for saying that drug lords may be using rights groups to criticize and undermine the government.

The group said Cayetano and Roque’s statements were “shockingly dangerous and shameful.”

“Are they trying to have death squads target humanrights activists? Cayetano and Roque provide no evidence,” Brad Adams, HRW Asia director, said.

Roque said billions have been lost because of the voluntary surrender of more than a million drug users, arrest of thousands of drug personalities and raid of drug laboratories and factories.

“To continue to do and thrive in the drug business, these drug lords can easily use their drug money to fund destabilization efforts against the government,” he added.

Roque’s statement is the latest in a series of tirades against critics of the administration’s war on illegal drugs, which has earned Duterte a complaint at the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Earlier, Cayetano said nongovernment organizations were being used by drug lords to discredit the Duterte administration’s war on drugs.

He said rights advocates who accused the administration of being behind the summary killings and abuses were only helping frustrate Duterte’s desire to rid the country of illegal drugs.

Adams said Cayetano and Roque should withdraw their comments immediately.

Chief presidential legal counsel Salvador Panelo said there is no need for Roque and Cayetano to withdraw their comments.

Panelo agreed with Roque and Cayetano on the possibility that drug lords are using “innocent” organizations to destroy the country.

Duterte’s war on illegal drugs, the centerpiece program of his administration, has been criticized here and abroad for allegedly encouraging human rights violations and extrajudicial killings, an allegation that officials have repeatedly denied.

Last month, the ICC announced that it would conduct a preliminary examination on the anti-drug campaign, drawing the ire of Duterte, who said the tribunal has no jurisdiction over the matter.

The preliminary examination stemmed from a communication by lawyer Jude Sabio, who accused Duterte of involvement in the deaths of more than 7,000 drug suspects.

Earlier this month, Duterte withdrew the Philippines’ ratification of the Rome Statute, the treaty that created the ICC, citing what he described as “outrageous attacks” against him by officials of the international tribunal and the United Nations.

The President said the ICC is being used as a “political tool” to harass the Philippines and to interfere with its internal issues.

Duterte, who earlier said he was ready to answer all the allegations against him, stressed that the ICC would never have jurisdiction over him.