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Detainees, political prisoners sign petition vs drug killings

Philstar.com

October 24, 2017 | 7:21am

Detainees, political prisoners sign petition vs drug killings

A guard patrols the perimeter fence of the maximum security jail at Camp Bagong Diwa in Bicutan, Taguig in this file photo. Walter Bollozos, file

MANILA, Philippines — Close to 750 detainees in Camp Bagong Diwa in Taguig City have launched a signature campaign to express concern over killings and other alleged rights violations in the government's anti-narcotics operations.

"The Duterte regime’s war on drugs is ineffective, and whatever efforts the government makes to rebrand this campaign, it can never erase the thousands of poor Filipinos it has left lying dead on dark alleyways, nor can it silence the cry for justice from the victims’ kin," the political prisoners held in Camp Bagong Diwa said in their petition.

"The victims of the drug war also include those who have been illegally arrested, and even the latter are standing up to condemn how this campaign is taking shape," the prisoners said.

According to a press statement from human rights group Karapatan, the signature campaign was started by female political prisoners in the Taguig City Jail on September 21, the commonly-acknowledged anniversary of ousted dictator Ferdinand Marcos' declaration of martial law in 1972.

Signatures have since been gathered from the male and female dormitories of Camp Bagong Diwa. The detainees, among them people held on drug charges, said in the petition that they want to express their opposition to the killings, especially of minors, and to alleged violations of the right to due process.

Petitioners said those killed in the war on drugs had been deprived of the right to a trial and "a chance to rectify their ways, if indeed they are guilty."

"This also amplifies the call for Duterte and his police force to be accountable to the scores of urban poor communities brutalized by this campaign. From inside prison cells, the clamor for justice increases," they said.

"[I]nnocence or guilt seem to be inconsequential in this campaign. Due process is immaterial. More than a year after this ‘war’ and nothing concrete has been achieved, save for the reaffirmation of how brutal State security forces can be when they are allowed to kill with impunity," the petitioners said.

The government, including Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano in an Al-Jazeera interview, have said the more than 3,900 killed in anti-drug operations since July 2016 had forced authorities to shoot back and kill them.

READ: All suspects killed in police ops were drug dealers, says Cayetano

This claim is disputed by human rights groups as well as petitioners from communities in Manila and Quezon City who have asked the Supreme Court for protection from the police.

Estimates on the number of deaths vary, with some government critics saying 13,000 have been killed in the war on drugs, including those whose deaths the government has classified as regular murders and homicides or blamed on drug syndicates, assassins and vigilantes.

READ: SC petitioners see 'systemic violence' in San Andres Bukid killings

Earlier this month, President Rodrigo Duterte designated the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency to lead the government's anti-drug campaign although police were ordered to maintain visibility to deter drug trafficking and other crimes.

The continued detention of political prisoners was a thorny issue in formal peace talks between the government and the Communist Party of the Philippines-New People's Army-National Democratic Front.

Talks bogged down in early 2017 over the government's failure to release political prisoners as supposedly promised while President Rodrigo Duterte said only a signed ceasefire agreement would lead to the release.

Talks were called off in July after a series of NPA attacks, including one on a convoy of the Presidential Security Group.