Palace tags new EJK complaints as propaganda

FILE: Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque  (PCOO PHOTO)

Malacañang on Sunday chose to label a human rights group’s filing of complaints before the United Nations (UN) as propaganda.

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque was determined to dismiss the new extrajudicial killings (EJK) complaints as mere instruments to “malign the administration.”

“Filing directly with UN is only for propaganda purposes because there are institutions in the Philippines that could address it,” he told reporters in a text message.

He added, “So they should file it in the fiscal’s office, they should file it with the Supreme Court for writ of amparo if they’re concerned about upholding the right to life.”

In a statement, Roque further said that the State is bounded by its duty to investigate these alleged EJK cases, not international bodies like the UN.

“Karapatan knows that it can avail of all domestic remedial mechanisms. The pillars of the criminal justice system in the Philippines remain to be effective and our legal processes are well-functioning,” Roque said.

“We, therefore, hope that they will file their complaints in the proper courts not before the so-called human rights rapporteurs who have politicized views of the Philippines’ campaign against illegal drugs,” the Spokesman added.

Apart from the mentioned legal processes, Roque was also convinced that Karapatan knows that the “cases will not prosper” in the UN.

“It is the political mileage they are after in pursuit of their continued intent to malign this administration, through the special rapporteurs who only seem too willing to act based on fake political information,” he said.

The human rights group was quick to retort on this specific remark of Roque.

“We do not file cases or complaints for mere publicity purposes. People are not mere facts in a press release,” Christina Palabay, Karapatan Secretary-General said in a statement.

Karapatan said that the cases were already filed to local courts and that they already got the consents from the victims, survivors, and relatives for the cases to be publicized.

Palabay went on by saying that Roque was simply covering up the administration’s violation of human rights and cases of EJKs.

Earlier, Karapatan, a leftist group sent two separate letters to UN special rapporteur on EJKs Agnes Callamard and UN special rapporteur on human rights defenders Michel Forst on new cases of EJKs.

President Rodrigo Duterte has earlier threatened Callamard if she investigates him regarding human rights violations.

This is the second time for Karapatan to claim human rights violations under the Duterte administration, reporting 47 cases of alleged EJKs in April.