UNITED Nations special rapporteurs on Tuesday called on the Duterte administration to urgently address growing reports of human rights violations amid threats by the President to bomb schools for indigenous peoples in Mindanao and alleged summary execution of children.
‘‘We are witnessing severe, multiple human rights violations, especially against indigenous peoples and human rights defenders,” three UN experts–Agnes Callamard, Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions; Michel Forst, Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders; and Maud de Boer-Buquicchio, Special Rapporteur on the sale and sexual exploitation of children–said in a statement.
They said: “Children are not being spared and continue to be at high risk in a climate of prevailing violence. Allegations of summary executions, including of children, are also on the rise. All these cases must be investigated thoroughly and perpetrators should be brought to justice.”
The condemnation is the latest by human rights advocates against Duterte, whose 13-month-old administration has triggered widespread alarm, notably over his deadly drug war.
“The Government of the Philippines must urgently address growing reports of human rights violations, including murder, threats against indigenous peoples and the summary execution of children,” the panel of three experts said in a statement.
One of the experts, Agnes Callamard, has previously faced harsh criticism from Duterte loyalists over an unofficial visit she made to the Philippines in May that the government claims was not authorized.
“We are shocked by the increasing levels of violence,” the group added, specifically highlighting threats against human rights defenders, trade union leaders along with those fighting to protect land rights against business interests.
“All these cases must be investigated thoroughly and perpetrators should be brought to justice,” added the statement.
While the statement did not specifically cite Duterte’s drug war, that campaign has been a key element of what the experts called “a climate of prevailing violence” in the Philippines.
The President last week vowed no let up in his battle against illegal drugs, during which police have reported killing nearly 3,200 people.
More than 2,000 other people have been killed in drug-related crimes, according to police data.
Rights groups say many of those victims have been killed by vigilante death squads linked to the government, and that Duterte may be overseeing a crime against humanity.
Meanwhile, those accusing the police of dumping bodies of the alleged “victims” of bloody drug war near the Manila Bay will find “not even a single dead body,” National Capital Region Police Office chief Oscar Albayalde said Tuesday, as he dismissed claims in an al-Jazeera report.
‘‘Well, as of this time, we have not received any report of recovery of dead bodies in Manila Bay. I don’t know where they got that information. Since the start of the war on drugs, we have not recovered any bodies of drug war victims at Manila Bay,” Albayalde told a Malacañang news briefing.
But Albayalde noted that a similiar case happened in Tondo, where a 17-year-old teenager was killed for drug pushing and was later found ‘floating’ in the river. With AFP
