| Home > South-East Asia >> Philippines | |
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte must be investigated, says UN official
Sydney Morning Herald - December 21, 2016
Zeid Raad al-Hussein, the UN's High Commissioner for Human Rights, also urged investigations into the "appalling epidemic of extra-judicial killings" under Mr Duterte's deadly crackdown on drugs that has left almost 6000 people dead.
In unprecedented criticism of a serving national leader by the world body, Prince Zeid said children as young as five have become victims of the violence, adding he was surprised there has been no sign of prosecution of those responsible.
"The perpetrators must be brought to justice, sending a strong message that violence, killings and human rights violations will not be tolerated by the state and that no one is above the law," Prince Zeid said.
"The killings described by President Duterte violate international law, including the right to life, freedom from violence and force, due process and fair trial, equal protection under the law, and innocence until proven guilty," he said.
"As a government official, if he encouraged others to follow his example, he may also have committed incitement to violence."
The comments made in a statement released in Geneva on Tuesday night are likely to prompt an angry response from 71-year-old Mr Duterte, who has often hit back at international criticism of the crackdown, telling US president Barack Obama to "got to hell" and calling him the "son of a whore", and threatening to withdraw the Philippines from the United Nations.
Mr Duterte boasted that when he was mayor of southern Davao City he used to hunt suspects on his motorcycle, shooting people on the spot. The goal, he said, was to encourage police officers to do the same.
"In Davao I used to do it personally. Just to show to the [policemen] that if I can do it, why can't you?" he said.
Later Mr Duterte sought to clarify the claim, saying he killed three suspected kidnappers in a fire-fight in 1988 when he was backed up by three police officers. He said he was unsure whether the bullets from his M16 rifle actually killed the suspects.
Since being swept into office at May elections, Mr Duterte and his aides have often backtracked from exaggerated claims and on-the-spot policy declarations.
Philippine Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre defended Mr Duterte's killing remarks, saying he often exaggerates to send a chilling warning to lawbreakers.
Last weekend, Mr Duterte reacted with rage to what he thought was a US decision to scrap a major aid package over human rights concerns, saying he would terminate a pact that allows US troops, ships and planes to rotate through Philippine military bases. "Bye-bye America," he declared.
But Mr Duterte was in fact referring to a US government aid agency, the Millennium Challenge Corp, which said it had only deferred a vote on a renewal of the development assistance package to the Philippines "subject to a further review of concerns around rule of law and civil liberties".
After having a 90 per cent popularity rating in his first months in power, opposition to Mr Duterte's rule has grown as bodies have piled up on the streets, many of them victims of vigilante-style targeted assassinations.
The president's popularity is now hovering at around 60 per cent as his government moves to restore the death penalty, which is opposed by the Catholic Church and many civil society groups.
Mr Duterte has said up to six criminals, including those convicted for drugs offences, will be executed every day, setting his country on a collision course with Australia, which is campaigning internationally against capital punishment.
The Turnbull government has made little comment about the Philippine killings or the controversies that have engulfed Mr Duterte since he took office on June 30.
See also:
 |