CHR: Drug war criticisms not links to syndicates, sign of destabilization plot

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Human Rights slammed the allegations that human rights organizations are in cahoots with drug lords to discredit the administration’s brutal war on drugs.

In a statement, CHR defended the rights groups, who have earned the president’s ire for criticizing the alleged abuses and extrajudicial killings linked to the government anti-narcotics campaign.

“Criticisms on the government’s campaign against illegal drugs are neither clear links to drug lords nor a sign of destabilization plot,” the commission said.

CHR called the pronouncements of Department of Foreign Affairs secretary Alan Peter Cayetano and presidential spokesperson Harry Roque Jr. “baseless,” citing the admission of Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency and Philippine National Police that there is no evidence to back the claims of the president’s men.

“Dispensing allegations without proof is dangerous as it opens human rights defenders to unsolicited attacks,” it said.

READ: ‘No evidence to link Human Rights groups to drug syndicates’

The commission, moreover, said that criticisms on government programs must be viewed as points of improvement rather than tools to threaten rights.

“While the government gives preferential attention to this charge, what is clearer is that there are cases of deaths and human rights violations allegedly linked to the government’s campaign against illegal drugs, which human rights groups have continuously demanded to be addressed with justice and the rule of law,” CHR said.

In a statement Monday, Roque, echoing Cayetano’s earlier statement, said that the administration is not discounting the possibility that “some human rights groups have become unwitting tools of drug lords to hinder the strides made by the administration.”

He added: "To continue to do and thrive in the drug business, these drug lords can easily use their drug money to fund destabilization efforts against the government."
 
The presidential spokesperson did not give details nor support for his claim and had previously used the same phrase to justify an allegation that a US-based woman linked to the Liberal Party could be conspiring with the International Criminal Court.

READ: Rights groups hit Duterte men for dangerously linking them to drug lords