UNITED Nations Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions Agnes Callamard is unfit to investigate the bloody war on drugs that saw thousands dead since President Rodrigo Duterte took office last year, Malacañang insisted Wednesday.
Responding to the strongly-worded tirade of the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights condemning the attacks and threats made by Duterte and his supporters against one of its special rapporteurs, Palace Spokesman Harry Roque said they should not judge the President for his signature colorful language but look into what Duterte stands for.
“Ms. Callamard, we reiterate, is not a competent and impartial rapporteur on our anti-drug campaign,” Roque said in a statement.
Roque also claimed that Callamard’s conduct “does not befit her office.”
“Lest we forget, she came unannounced to the country in May this year even while the terms of her official visit were still being finalized. And she did so using an event organized by a group that was extremely critical of the administration and presenting herself as a resource person for that event,” he said.
“Her arrogance in going through the back-door not only went against protocol, but is deeply insulting,” he added.
Callamard earned Duterte’s ire after saying his bloody drug war should be investigated due to reports of state-sanctioned killings of drug suspects.
According to police statistics, some 3,906 drug personalities have been killed and 113,932 arrested in the government’s war on drugs. Rights groups, however, claim deaths number thousands more.
The police, for its part, has tried to allay fears of EJKs in the country, and said in October there were “no confirmed EJK case(s)” under the Duterte administration.
“We need to point that the President’s remarks on Callamard were addressed to a Filipino audience who are used to the Chief Executive’s unorthodox rhetoric,” he said.
“We therefore hope that Spokesperson Colville would also take time to look into the manner on how human rights experts ought to conduct their business with and in States concerned, i.e., in an unbiased and transparent manner free of all political machinations in accordance with their code of conduct and ethics,” he added.
Roque said Duterte’s offer to host a global summit on human rights showed his administration welcomed “disinterested and apolitical” human rights experts in the country.
“We believe there must be a venue for dialogue where human rights, given the wide array of rights it covers, can be discussed from a global perspective and not from the view of politicized individuals,” he said.
On Tuesday, Duterte once again blurted curses and threatened CHR chairperson Jose Luis Martin Gascon, saying he would slap him and wondered if he’s gay.
“Human rights…this Gascon..,better avoid that we cross paths. I would really slap you,” the President said during the 65th General Assembly of the League of Cities of the Philippines.