Cayetano defends drug war, hits US report on human rights

FILE:  Cayetano was reacting to the Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2017 (KARL NORMAN ALONZO/PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO)

The Secretary of Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) defended the administration’s campaign against illegal drugs versus the United States (US) report on human rights.

“We assure the international community that in the conduct of our campaign, we will remain guided by the rule of law embodied in our Constitution, which also enshrines the country’s long-standing tradition of upholding human rights,” DFA Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano said in a statement over the weekend.

Cayetano was reacting to the Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2017 released by the US Department of State on April 20, Friday.

The said report documented the status of human rights and worker rights in nearly 200 countries and territories, and included the Philippines, discussing the issues of the President Rodrigo Roa Duterte’s war on drugs and the alleged extra-judicial killings.

“As a sovereign nation, the Philippines deserves the same kind of respect we have been extending to our friends in the international community,” Cayetano demanded.

“While we note that the United States and other entities such as the European Parliament have their own reporting mechanisms, the Philippines has its own internal processes and mechanism to ensure that the human rights of all our people are protected and respected,” he added, noting the European Parliament’s recent call on the country to end its drug war.

(Read: EU calls on PH to end drug war, drop terror tags on UN rapporteur)

Cayetano emphasized in his statement that the “vigorous” campaign of the administration against criminality and drug trade are for the welfare and protection of human rights of all Filipinos as it saves lives, preserves families, and protect communities. He further said that these campaigns are stopping the Philippines from becoming a “narco-state.”

“The Philippines is a sovereign state with a fully functioning democracy led by a legitimately elected government that is getting things done for the Filipino people,” the Foreign Affairs secretary also explained.

“We do not need others who think they know better than us Filipinos to tell us what to do,” he stressed.

The US report said that extrajudicial killings have been the “chief human rights concern in the country for many years and, after a sharp rise with the onset of the anti-drug campaign in 2016, they continued in 2017.”

“From January to the end of September, media reports chronicled more than 900 fatalities in police operations suspected to be connected with the government’s anti-drug campaign. Police claimed to have begun investigations of all reports of extrajudicial killings. As of August, police claimed to have resolved 1,889 cases, and 4,373 remained under investigation,” the report read.

“The most significant human rights issues included: killings by security forces, vigilantes and others allegedly connected to the government, and by insurgents; torture and abuse of prisoners and detainees by security forces; often harsh and life threatening prison conditions; warrantless arrests by security forces and cases of apparent government disregard for legal rights and due process; political prisoners; killings of and threats against journalists; official corruption and abuse of power; threats of violence against human rights activists; violence against women; and forced labor,” it added.

According to the same human rights report, the administration investigated only a “limited” number reported human rights cases which included “abuses by its own forces, paramilitaries, and insurgent terrorist groups.” Concerns about police impunity also significantly raised along with the reports.

“President Duterte publicly rejected criticism of police killings, but he said authorities would investigate any actions taken outside the rule of law. Significant concerns persisted about impunity of civilian national and local government officials and powerful business and commercial figures,” the report further read.

Apart from Duterte’s war on drugs, the Philippines section in the said report also talked about the Communist Party of the Philippines-National Democratic Front-New People’s Army (CPP-NDF-NPA).

Signed by Acting Secretary of State John J. Sullivan, he said that the report recognized the “corrupt and weak” governance that threatens global stability and US interests.

“Some governments are unable to maintain security and meet the basic needs of their people, while others are simply unwilling,” he further wrote in the preface of the report.