HRW: Dela Rosa should be held accountable for bloody war on drugs

A rights watchdog on Tuesday, April 17, said the outgoing Philippine National Police (PNP) Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa should answer for the deaths linked to the administration’s war against drugs. (Photo: Philippine National Police/Facebook)

A rights watchdog on Tuesday, April 17, said the outgoing Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa should answer for the deaths linked to the administration’s war against drugs.

Human Rights Watch (HRW) Asia Division researcher Carlos Conde said dela Rosa, who is set to end his 21-month term, will leave behind a police force “with a sordid human rights record unmatched since the Marcos dictatorship.”

“As police chief, dela Rosa deployed the forces that have waged President Rodrigo Duterte’s murderous ‘war on drugs.’ That campaign has targeted mainly urban slum dwellers and resulted in the deaths of more than 12,000 men, women, and children by police and police-backed vigilantes,” Conde stressed.

Conde called the top cop as an “enthusiastic supporter” of the anti-illegal drug campaign which the President launched in 2016, citing his rejection of concerns about the increasing death rate of the police operations.

“He slammed calls by lawmakers for an investigation into the killings as ‘legal harassment,’ saying it ‘dampens the morale’ of police officers,” Conde said.

Based on the “Real Numbers” update from the PNP, almost 4,000 drug suspects were killed in the anti-drug campaign between July 1, 2016 to January 17, 2018. The rights groups, however, questioned the veracity of the government’s statistics, saying that the numbers could be higher.

“Human Rights Watch research found that many of the killings have been summary executions in which police or their agents planted weapons and drugs on bodies and then claimed the victims had ‘fought back,’”  he explained.

“No one has been held to account for these killings,” he added.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has begun a preliminary examination on the crimes allegedly committed under Duterte’s drug war.

Conde said that there is also a “growing momentum inside the United Nations (UN) for a separate UN inquiry.”

“These developments suggest that sooner or later, dela Rosa may be held to account for the bloody campaign he so zealously endorsed,” he continued.

Facing the 180,000-strong police force in his last flag raising ceremony, the top cop on Monday, April 16, thanked his men for all their efforts and support during his nearly two-year stint as PNP chief.

While giving thanks to his men, dela Rosa also apologized to them if he was not able to meet their expectations, adding that he did everything he could do as their leader.

Dela Rosa will soon lead the Bureau of Corrections (BuCor) after his retirement from his police service.