State forces should be accountable for deaths in drug war — HRW

Amid the discrepancy in the count of people killed in the government’s war on drugs, state forces should still be held accountable for the deaths, Human Rights Watch said Thursday.

“At this point in the brutal ‘drug war,’ accountability is more important than the statistics, given how the govt tries to manipulate stats thru #realnumbersPH,” Carlos Conde, HRW Philippines researcher, said in a Twitter post.

He said that while keeping track of number of victims is crucial, even more important now is keeping track of how many have been punished.

At this point in the brutal “drug war,” accountability is more important than the statistics, given how the govt tries to manipulate stats thru #realnumbersPH. While keeping track of number of victims is crucial, even more impt now is keeping track of how many have been punished.

— Carlos H. Conde (@condeHRW) July 18, 2019

Conde said there is no longer any dispute as to how catastrophic the “drug war” is.

“The modus operandi of the government is well-established, its violations of the law and due process clearly documented. So whether it’s 10 or 10,000, it’s clear that government forces need to be held accountable,” he said.

Earlier in the day, the Duterte administration said 5,526 drug suspects have been killed in the anti-illegal drugs campaign. The number is lower than the 6,600 given by the police in its accomplishment briefing last month.

From July 1, 2016 to June 30, 2019, a total of 134,583 drug operations have been conducted and 193,086 drug suspects have been nabbed.

Philippine National Police (PNP) deputy spokesperson Lieutenant Colonel Kim Molitas explained the number of killed drug suspects changed because the figure earlier released by the police was yet to be verified by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA). — RSJ, GMA News