Fresh concerns on drug war reveal government’s failure to counter criticisms — HRW

MANILA, Philippines — The latest international criticisms on President Rodrigo Duterte’s ferocious campaign against narcotics show that the government’s attempts to deflect condemnations against the drug war have failed, Human Rights Watch said.

“Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has run up against the limits of his government’s campaign of denial and distraction to counter criticism of its ongoing ‘drug war’ killings,” Phelim Kine, HRW Asia Deputy Director, said in a statement Tuesday (Manila time).

Kine noted that such criticisms provide more support for the International Criminal Court’s move to launch a preliminary examination into the conduct of the drug war.

Last week, the European Parliament adopted a resolution calling on the Philippine government to end the campaign against illegal drugs that has killed thousands. It warned that the absence of “substantive improvement” may prompt suspension of export trade privilege.

In its global rights report for 2017, the US State Department, meanwhile, noted that the alleged extrajudicial killings linked with the drug war remain the top human concern in the Philippines.

Senior government officials were quick to react to the fresh slew of criticisms.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano slammed the European lawmakers, saying they have “crossed the red line.”

As a response to the US Department of State report, the country’s top diplomat harped on national sovereignty, lamenting that the country does “not need others who think they know better than us Filipinos to tell us what to do.”

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“Cayetano’s frustration is understandable. He has led government efforts to deflect international criticism of the ‘drug war’ by rejecting outright reports of high death tolls as ‘alternative facts,’” Kine said.

He added: “And he has dismissed statistical evidence and well-documented accounts of a surge in killings of suspected drug users and dealers since Duterte took office in June 2016 as a baseless ‘political tactic’ wielded by the president’s critics.”

Individuals and organizations both at home and abroad have criticized President Rodrigo Duterte for his ferocious “war on drugs,” which has claimed over 12,000 lives, according to human rights watchdogs.

The government, however, disputes these numbers and counts a little over 4,000 “drug personalities” killed in police operations.