Philippines slams UN body’s ‘overreach’ on killings

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippine mission to the United Nations in Geneva has defended joint police and military operations against activists in Calabarzon on Sunday, saying it was ”appalled” at the UN human rights office for prejudging the raids.

”We regret this  overreach of the OHCHR’s (Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights) mandate,” the Philippine diplomatic mission said in a post on Twitter on Tuesday.

It said there is no basis for calling the deaths resulting from the operations as arbitrary killings.

”These were carried out strictly within the bounds of law based on 40 search warrants secured by the police after a rigorous legal process,” the Philippine mission said.

Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said he understands the concern of the OHCHR even as he gave assurance that steps are being taken to prevent deaths in law enforcement operations.

The UN human rights office said it is ”deeply worried that latest killings indicate an escalation in violence, intimidation, harassment and red-tagging of human rights defenders.”

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani during a press briefing in Geneva on Tuesday urged the police to take urgent measures to prevent the use of excessive force resulting in loss of lives during law enforcement operations.

Shamsadani said the government and members of security forces should “refrain from rhetoric that may lead to violations and instead make public commitments to uphold human rights and the rule of law.”

”We welcome the government’s commitment to investigate these cases, which will be a critical test for the domestic investigative mechanisms it has established for cases of this kind,” she said.

Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch said the UN-OHCHR should deploy a rapid response unit to probe the killings. – Rhodina Villanueva, Janvic Mateo, Evelyn Macairan