Journalist: Germany to keep hitting Philippines’ rights violations

MANILA, Philippines — Germany will continue to denounce human rights violations and extrajudicial killings in the Philippines and consult with European Union (EU) partners on legal and political action, according to a German journalist.

Arnd Henze of Berlin-based ARD-Hauptstadtstudio said Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. had “embraced remarks of President Duterte about Adolf Hitler and slaughtering three million drug addicts,” and it was not the first time he made extremely offensive comments with reference to the Shoah.

The Holocaust is also known as “the Shoah” or Ha-Shoah in Hebrew.

Locsin’s remarks were “unacceptable,” according to Henze.

Henze also responded to Locsin’s tweet that only a handful of Germans are stupid like the German journalist.

“The interesting part of this tweet is his notion that Germans are coldly efficient & sympathetic. I‘m sure the ambassador of @auswaertigesamt will respectfully explain @teddyboylocsin Germany’s firm condemnation of all human rights violations in #Duterte’s anti drug campaign,” Henze tweeted.

Lotte Leicht, EU advocacy director and director of Human Rights Watch (HRW)’s Brussels office, urged Germany to join Iceland and others for the adoption of a United Nations Human Rights Council resolution for the creation of a UN-led investigation into the thousands of killings linked to the Philippine government’s war on drugs.

On Sunday, Locsin tweeted, “It is good to remind the Germans that while Britain can exit, they cannot from the Holocaust.”

The German Foreign Ministry summoned the acting Philippine ambassador to Germany after Locsin defended Duterte’s remarks on Hitler in the interview.

Lilibeth Pono is currently the chargé d’affaires at the Philippine embassy in Germany.

Germany Foreign Office spokesman Rainer Breuer said his ministry had called in the Philippine envoy to discuss comments by Locsin defending the 2016 statements by Duterte concerning Hitler.

HRW said a UN-led probe would both help clarify the disparity in official and independent estimates of killings in the anti-drug campaign and facilitate accountability for unlawful deaths.

In 2017, governments led by Iceland issued two joint statements that urged the Philippine government to “take all necessary measures to bring these killings to an end” and to “cooperate with the international community to pursue appropriate investigations into these incidents.”

In its report titled “World Report 2019: Philippines,” HRW said the human rights crisis in the Philippines unleashed since Duterte took office in June 2016 deepened in 2018 as Duterte continued his murderous “war on drugs” in the face of mounting international criticism.

In March 2018, the President announced that the Philippines would withdraw from the International Criminal Court “effective immediately” in response to the ICC’s move in February to launch a preliminary examination of “drug war” killings to determine whether or not to open a full-blown investigation.

On Wednesday, Duterte warned that his anti-narcotics campaign will be even harsher in the days to come, signaling no letup in a bloody crackdown that has alarmed the international community.

Meanwhile, Locsin yesterday labeled Henze a “Forgeter” whom he asked to consult the experience of Germans in handling what only they called “the Jewish problem.”

“Yes, there are very few firm ‘Forgeters’ among Germans and I had the luck to meet one of them and it was he who brought up the matter and forced me to make the distinction between metaphor and murder. Sad,” Locsin said on Twitter.