‘Extrajudicial killings chief concern in Phl’

Extrajudicial killings have been the chief human rights concern in the Philippines for many years and, after a sharp rise with the onset of the antidrug campaign in 2016, these continued in 2018 with an average of six persons killed daily in operations against illegal drugs, according to the latest annual United States Department of State Country Reports on Human Rights Practices.

“There were numerous reports that government security agencies and their informal allies committed arbitrary or unlawful killings in connection with the government-directed campaign against illegal drugs,” the 2018 report released yesterday said.

It added that “killings of activists, judicial officials, local government leaders and journalists by anti-government insurgents and unknown assailants also continued.”

From January to Sept. 29 last year, the media chronicled 673 deaths in police operations suspected to be connected with the government’s antidrug campaign.

From July 2016 to July 2018, law enforcement agencies reported that an average of six persons died daily in anti-drug operations. The 105,658 antidrug operations conducted from July 2016 to September 2018 led to the deaths of 4,854 civilians and 87 members of the security forces.

“The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) suspected the Philippine National Police (PNP) or Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) of involvement in 208 of these new complaints and the Armed Forces of the Philippines or paramilitary personnel in 19 cases,” the report said.

“The PNP’s institutional deficiencies and the public perception that corruption was endemic within the force continued,” it said.

A number of United Nations special rapporteur or working group visit requests remained pending, according to the report.

In February 2018, Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda of the International Criminal Court (ICC) announced the opening of a preliminary examination of potential crimes, including extrajudicial and other killings, allegedly committed since July 1, 2016 in the government’s antidrug campaign.

In a March 2018 speech, President Duterte ordered security forces not to respond to any probe or investigation request on human rights abuses in the country. In the same month, the Philippines submitted a formal notification of withdrawal from the ICC’s Rome Statute, which will take effect one year after the notification.

The ICC expressed regret over the Philippines’ move and encouraged the country to remain part of the ICC.

A withdrawal, however, has no impact on ongoing proceedings or any matter which was already under consideration by the ICC prior to the date on which the withdrawal became effective nor on the status of any judge serving at the court.