HRW slams Duterte remarks on shooting rights advocates

MANILA, Philippines — New York-based Human Rights Watch on Thursday slammed President Rodrigo Duterte for threatening to have human rights activists shot if they get in the way of police operations, saying these remarks could pave the way for prosecution for crimes against humanity.

The chief executive should immediately withdraw his statement or face the specter of an investigation into for possibly instigating the harming of human rights workers, the human rights watchdog said.

“President Duterte’s threats against human rights activists is like painting a target on the backs of courageous people working to protect the rights and upholding the dignity of all Filipinos,” the deputy Asia director of the rights body, Phelim Kine, said.

Kine added: “Duterte should retract his reprehensible remarks immediately before there is more blood on his hands.”

The official said that Duterte’s threats, issued a day after one of the bloodiest days in the president’s brutal and ruthless campaign against illegal narcotics, could serve as a basis for indictment for crimes against humanity.

READ: Duterte: Shoot CHR personnel if they obstruct justice

During a speech before members of the Volunteers Against Crime and Corruption, Duterte vented anew his anger at human rights activists over their investigations into possible rights abuses surrounding his drug war, his flagship security program.

“One of these days, kayong human rights, kayong imbestigahan ko. Conspiracy. If they are obstructing justice, you shoot them,” the hot-tempered Duterte said.

Duterte’s latest pronouncements were contrary to earlier assurances from the Palace that he understood their mandate, especially that of the Human Rights Commission which he threatened to abolish. He later backpedaled and claimed that it was only a “joke.”

READ: Duterte on threat to abolish CHR: Only a joke

The president has been seething in anger against human rights workers whom he sees as unfair to security forces.

“Basta human rights, ilang biktima na rito. Yung lima na namatay, yung one-year-old na ginulgol doon. Yung human rights na yan nasaan? They could not even utter it in public na, ‘Look, do not do that to me.’ Ganito 'yan e,” he said.

Duterte’s latest tirade against the human rights community came as police raids in Bulacan resulted in the death of 32 people. A day later, operations in Manila led to the killing of 20 people.

The president has praised the police who led these operations in his speech. Amnesty International, on the other hand, said that with the deaths the government had already reached a new depth in its barbarity.

READ: Duterte admits he was wrong about 6-month deadline vs drugs

The president has already admitted that he won’t end the problem of illegal drugs in the Philippines during his term which ends in 2022, reneging on his campaign promise of solving it in three to six months. This has sparked fears that the violence will continue unabated.

Kine warned the president: “Duterte’s assault on accountability highlights the urgent need for a UN-led international investigation into his drug-war slaughter.”

Based on police records, 3,264 drug offenders have already been killed since the start of the intensified campaign in July last year. Another 2,000 have died in drug-related homicides.

Human rights organizations have challenged the figures and claimed that more than 7,000 have died.