HRW condemns dela Rosa over ‘kill detained drug lords’ remark

FILE: Human Rights Watch (HRW) slammed former top cop-turned-Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) chief Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa for his statement to New Bilibid Prison (NBP) guards to execute convicted drug lords. (Photo: Philippine National Police/Facebook)

Human Rights Watch (HRW) slammed former top cop-turned-Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) chief Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa for his statement to New Bilibid Prison (NBP) guards to execute convicted drug lords.

“Takot kayo sa mga drug lord na ‘yan? Kung pwede nila kayong patayin, sila rin kaya niyong patayin kasi nasa loob sila diba? Bakit kayo takot mamatay? Ayaw na ayaw ko kayo’y duwag (You are afraid of those drug lords? If they can kill you, you can also kill them because they are in prison. Why are you afraid of dying? I do not like cowards),” dela Rosa told BuCor’s officers during his first flag-raising ceremony at the NBP compound on Monday, May 7.

Reacting to this, HRW Asia Deputy Director Phelim Kine said that the new BuCor chief “has a killer attitude toward his new job. Literally.”

Kine said that dela Rosa’s remark was not surprising because as a former police chief, he deployed the forces that have waged President Rodrigo Duterte’s “murderous” anti-illegal drug campaign.

“Dela Rosa’s comments suggest he will apply the same disregard for rule of law and accountability that defined his tenure as police director general in his new role as head of the Bureau of Corrections,” he stressed.

It can be recalled that the HRW earlier called the former top cop as an “enthusiastic supporter” of the administration’s war on drugs which the President launched in 2016, citing his rejection of concerns about the increasing death toll of the police operations.

According to the Philippine National Police (PNP)’s “real numbers” released on Monday, there were 4,251 drug suspects killed since Duterte assumed office until April 30 this year, much lower than the 12,000 estimated by the HRW.

The rights group previously claimed that this data was “manipulated” by the police force because they want the number to appear as “low as possible.”

Kine said that dela Rosa should take note that the International Criminal Court (ICC) has started a preliminary examination into the killings linked to the drug war and would likely consider any extension of that “deadly campaign into Philippine prisons.”

“These developments suggest that sooner or later, dela Rosa may be held to account for his ongoing role in the bloody campaign he continues to zealously endorse,” he added.