Philippines
US report detailing abuses during president’s war on illegal drugs is ‘utterly baseless,’ says Duterte’s spokesman
Policemen at a crime scene where the body of an alleged drug dealer lies on the ground after unidentified gunmen killed him in Manila on June 27, 2019. (Photo: AFP)
The Philippine government has condemned a US State Department report which accuses security forces of committing human rights abuses while waging President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on illegal drugs.
Accusations in the State Department’s 2021 Country Report on Human Rights Practices are “infirm” and “utterly baseless,” Duterte’s spokesman Martin Andanar said on April 19.
“Once again [the US] has displayed how infirm its intelligence gathering is with its claim of credible reports of human rights violations by the Philippine government,” he told reporters.
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The State Department said it had received credible reports that human rights abuses in the Philippines had skyrocketed during Duterte’s presidency.
The report highlighted issues that included unlawful or arbitrary killings, forced disappearance, torture, harsh and life-threatening prison conditions and arbitrary detention.
“The [Philippine] government investigated a limited number of reported human rights abuses, including abuses by its own forces, paramilitary forces and insurgent and terrorist groups. Concerns about police impunity continued following the increase in killings by police in 2016,” the report said.
“To reiterate, these allegations, including violations committed by law enforcement officers in the conduct of the government’s anti-illegal drugs campaign, have all been previously addressed”
Andanar, however, said the accusations were recycled black propaganda against Duterte.
“They are nothing but a rehash of old and recycled issues by the perennial detractors of the Duterte administration,” he said.
“To reiterate, these allegations, including violations committed by law enforcement officers in the conduct of the government’s anti-illegal drugs campaign, have all been previously addressed.”
Andanar urged the United States to validate the accusations instead of “immediately” believing hem.
“We strongly suggest that the United States State Department, to validate reports that reach their office, triangulate the same with all other open and institutional sources, and put to work its political officers in the US embassy in the Philippines who can then properly verify the same with the Philippine government,” Andanar said. “Engaged verification is key in all this.”
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