CHR tells Duterte admin: Be ‘transparent,’ cooperate in drug war probes

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Human Rights on Friday urged the Philippine government to be transparent after President Rodrigo Duterte ordered security forces to ignore investigations into his deadly drug war, amid strong international calls for an external probe.

Duterte, who is notorious for his defiance of international pressure, was elected by a landslide in 2016 on a brutal law and order platform.

Human rights monitors say most of the fatalities in the war on drugs are extrajudicial killings committed by cops, adding that Duterte could be liable for crimes against humanity for giving police the "license to kill."

In a recent speech, Duterte told elite armed police units not to participate in any drug war probe by United Nations rapporteurs, who he slammed for supposedly interfering in the way he runs his country.

But the CHR reminded the Duterte administration that the Philippines is a signatory to various treaties, adding that the government must cooperate to “ensure that the rule of law still prevails.”

The commission also warned the government that the International Criminal Court, as the “court of last resort,” could step in if the state is “unwilling” to address the alleged cases of summary killings in the country.

“Transparency, fairness, and due process must be paramount in the investigation and prosecution of cases. This will be for the benefit of the state as it will show the international community that the Philippine justice system can be depended on and is working,” the CHR said in a statement.

“Hence, the Commission is calling on the government especially the security sector, the prosecutors, and the judges to ensure that the rule of law still prevails and justice is dispensed with haste,” it added.

In 2016, the Philippine government invited UN Special Rapporteur on summary executions Agnes Callamard to visit subject to three conditions, including allowing the president to ask her questions in a public debate.

But Callamard, a vocal critic of Duterte's bloody anti-drug drive, refused to heed the conditions, saying they violate UN protocols for country visits.

Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano early this week told the UN Human Rights Council that Manila was ready to cooperate, but called for fairness.

For its part, Malacañang said that while the country is open to have its rights record scrutinized, it should not be done by Callamard, who the government has accused of bias.

The Hague-based ICC last month announced it was conducting a "preliminary examination"—the first formal step the court takes to determine whether Duterte's signature anti-drug campaign meets the legal criteria established by the Rome Statute to warrant investigation.

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