UN rights chief: Probe Rody

MANILA, Philippines – The United Nations’ human rights chief has asked Philippine authorities to investigate President Duterte for murder after he claimed to have killed people in the past and to also look into the “shocking number of killings” under his brutal crackdown on illegal drugs, which has left nearly 6,000 people dead.

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein said in a statement issued in Geneva yesterday that Philippine judicial authorities “must demonstrate their commitment to upholding the rule of law and their independence from the executive by launching a murder investigation,” adding it is “unthinkable for any functioning judicial system not to launch investigative and judicial proceedings when someone has openly admitted being a killer.”

Such calls have enraged Duterte, who may revive a previous threat to withdraw the Philippines from the UN.

The President is immune from prosecution during his term but he can be investigated. A Senate probe of allegations that death squads operated in Davao City when Duterte was mayor cleared him of involvement in extrajudicial killings.

Another Senate probe on ongoing killings related to the drug war will resume in the coming year.

This developed as Duterte dared UN Special Rapporteur Agnes Callamard to prove that he ordered security forces to execute drug suspects and criminals.

Duterte reiterated that the government is not involved in extrajudicial killings as policemen and soldiers would not comply with illegal orders.

“The rapporteur of the Human Rights Commission wants to come here and she said she wants to talk to me, one-on-one. I said ‘no.’ You go public, you make the accusations. I’d like to know where you get the garbage,” the President said at the awarding of outstanding Filipino individuals overseas in Malacañang on Monday night.

“Give me a policeman or a soldier here in front of me and ask her, ‘Who was the one or who I ordered to be killed?’ Extrajudicial? We do not do that. You do not shoot.”

Duterte said security forces would oust him if he orders them to do something illegal.

“If you force them to commit that kind of (act) –they will mount a coup d’état, believe me, especially, and all of them – the officers, the non-commissioned and commissioned officers,” he said.

“We have an armed forces who will never, never do that. And I know that, well, you do not overdo things. You think that we shoot people walking with their hands tied at the back on bended knees, no. But if you say a third of all killings were committed, happened during a police confrontation, yes,” he added.

The Duterte administration has invited Callamard to the Philippines to probe the alleged extrajudicial killings of drug suspects, but asked her to abide by certain conditions, including allowing Duterte to propound questions as well as engage the UN team in a debate on relevant issues.

Callamard has opposed the conditions, saying the findings of investigations should remain confidential. She also argued the conditions are not in line with the code of conduct for special rapporteurs.

She suggested holding a private debriefing with Duterte as well as a joint press conference where the President can question her findings. – Alexis Romero, AP