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PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte said that, like his fierce critics, he also suspects that extrajudicial executions may have occurred under his anti-drug crackdown that has killed thousands of people.
He said in televised statements on Monday night, October 5, that he had once investigated the brutal deaths and was told that some drug dealers may have been killed due to rivalry between the unions or for stealing drug money.
More than 5,800 suspects have been murdered and 256,000 arrested since Duterte took office in mid-2016. Human rights groups have alleged that many of the killings were drunk, but Duterte and police said most were suspects who were killed by shots when they counterattacked.
Western governments have called for an independent investigation into the killings, which have continued even during the coronavirus pandemic, but Duterte has dismissed those calls as meddling in his country’s affairs.
“This extrajudicial murder, they have been insisting for many years. To tell the truth, I am also suspicious, and there was a time when I held a low-key hearing, ”said Duterte, who speaks blatantly.
“What came to me is that sometimes there is a rivalry of the territory,” he said, adding that other drug traffickers may have been killed by gangsters for fleeing with drugs and money.
“I know that whether I like it or not, there is a war going on. I cannot stop the murders, the murder of criminals and the murder of my soldiers and police, ”he said.
An International Criminal Court prosecutor has been examining allegations of crimes against humanity for drug killings during Duterte’s tenure, but has not stated whether there is adequate evidence to initiate a formal investigation.
Duterte also ordered authorities to destroy large volumes of seized drugs within a week, citing past cases in which rogue officers resold seized drugs. Only a small portion of the seized drugs should be stored as evidence in ongoing drug trafficking cases, Duterte said, expressing hope that the courts would allow the move. He said he plans to inspect the seized drugs stored in warehouses.
“Why do we have to shoulder the burden of keeping contraband or merchandise that can be stolen and used and recycled?” Duterte asked. “Due to the large amount of shabu that we cannot protect every day, even a spoonful that is lost, the government will be to blame.”
Shabu is the local name for methamphetamine, a banned stimulant widely trafficked in the Philippines. Since its crackdown began in 2016, more than 7,000 kilograms of methamphetamine, with a street value of 53 billion pesos ($ 1 billion), have been seized, along with smaller amounts of cocaine, marijuana and party drugs, authorities said.
Human rights lawyer Edre Olalia said Duterte’s comments divert public attention to the failure of his campaign to end the drug problem, which continues in a significant way, and the massive injustice over the killings of thousands of suspects. , mostly poor.
“It’s another one of those populist messages that camouflages the regrettable failure of the fist bloodbath in drugs,” Olalia said. (AP)
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