Duterte vows no brutality, cruelty in police operations

MANILA, Philippines —  Despite waging what he described as a “bloody” war on illegal drugs, President Duterte clarified that he won’t allow “outright brutality and cruelty” in law enforcement operations.?

Duterte, who has been accused by his critics of endorsing extrajudicial killings, said he has ordered police officers to shoot drug suspects who resist violently, not those already helpless. ?

“It’s not the job of the government to shoot and kill those who are already seated, those whose hands are outstretched or those whose hands are tied,” the President said in Filipino during the awarding of outstanding government personnel last Wednesday in Malacañang. ?

“I assure you, I won’t allow that. That’s outright brutality and cruelty. Kill only those who fight back, you have my go signal. If they fight back and you think that your life is in danger, shoot and kill,” he added. ?

Human rights advocates claim the President’s crackdown on illegal drugs – the centerpiece program of the Duterte administration – has emboldened policemen to execute drug suspects and commit abuses. ?

Duterte and his officials deny this and maintain that they will not condone extrajudicial killings and other human rights violations.

They also claimed that some of the slain suspects were killed by members of drug syndicates to prevent them from providing information to authorities. 

The President also disputed claims of human rights advocates that the drug war has left tens of thousands of people dead. 

?“I just don’t know where the stupid human rights (advocates) get their figures. I get mine from the presidential briefer. So I am bound by what the police tell me,” Duterte said. ?

“Why would my police invent figures? So I just rely on them to give me the true (figures). They won’t lie. They would be afraid to do so,” he added. 

?Human rights groups claim more than 20,000 people have died due to the drug war, way higher than the more than 5,000 drug-related deaths in government reports. 

These reports prompted the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) to vote in July to adopt an Iceland resolution which sought to look into the human rights situation in the country, a move that Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. discarded as a “dead resolution.”

Locsin thanks Duterte

Taking credit for initiating the Philippines’ rejection of a resolution and leaving the International Criminal Court (ICC), the country’s top diplomat said he was “grateful” to Duterte and former foreign affairs secretary Alan Peter Cayetano for backing up his decision and initiative.

“Congress: why did DU30 reject the Iceland resolution? Me: ‘He did not reject it. I did. Then he came out against it. I am grateful to my President for backing up my rejection of the Iceland resolution.’ I also pulled us out of ICC on my own initiative. Alan backed me,” Locsin said on Twitter.

In a close vote, the 47-member UNHRC adopted the Iceland-initiated resolution which expressed concern that since Duterte announced his war against illegal drugs in 2016, there have been allegations that thousands of people involved in the drug trade and drug use have been killed.

The resolution, adopted by 18 votes in favor to 14 against with 15 abstentions, also appeals to authorities to investigate the deaths and to hold perpetrators accountable.

The text also calls on the Philippine government to cooperate with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights by facilitating country visits and “refraining from all acts of intimidation or retaliation” against rights experts.

Locsin tweeted last week that the Iceland-initiated resolution is “forgiven.”

The secretary called the ICC a “fairy tale” endeavor handing judgment before trial, justifying the country’s exit from the court.– With Pia Lee-Brago