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Human Rights Watch: Jee killing indicates breakdown of rule of law under Duterte


An international human rights organization has linked the killing of a South Korean businessman to President Rodrigo Duterte's campaign against drugs and crime.

In a dispatch, Human Rights Watch deputy director Phelim Kine said the killing of Jee Ick Joo by police officials is "an ominous indicator of the breakdown of rule of law under President Rodrigo Duterte."

Kine described Jee's killing as "notably grotesque" in line with existing killings from the campaign against drugs, which is the centerpiece of the Duterte administration. 

On Thursday, Philippine National Police chief Dir. Gen. Ronald "Bato" Dela Rosa said Jee was killed inside Camp Crame by police officers. The South Korean businessmen was abducted last October.

But Dela Rosa bristled at the link between Duterte's drug war and the Jee killing, claiming that similar crimes were more prevalent in previous administrations.

"Ngayon lang ba napatayan ng Koreano? Panahon lang ni President Duterte? 'Di ba ang daming namatay noon?"

"For all you know, magprangkahan tayo, mas marami krimen noon pa, sa hindi pa panahon ni Presidente Duterte iyong police na sindikato na iyan na hindi nalalaman dahil iyong liderato ng PNP, hindi ganoon katindi iyong paghahabol, pag-internal cleansing ng kapulisan. Sorry po sa mga nagdaan na Chief PNP. Sorry po. I don't mean to offend. Hindi man din sila magtapang-tapangan kung wala silang presidente na backup nila na ganoon katapang," he added.  

But Kine said the environment under Duterte makes it ripe for crooked policemen to go into crime.

"Philippine police have good reason to believe that they can literally get away with murder. Duterte has pledged effective immunity for police who kill in the name of his drug war. He underscored his own personal contempt for human rights and rule of law on December 12 when he publicly announced that he had personally killed suspected drug users and dealers while mayor of Davao City," Kine said.

He added that their previous research in the Philippines showed that "those given a license to kill will eventually start doing so for personal profit," citing Human Rights Watch's expose on a death squad in Tagum City. —Marlly Rome C. Bondoc/JST, GMA News

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