Human Rights Watch urges UN council probe on rights abuses in PHL drug war

The watchdog group Human Rights Watch on Wednesday urged the United Nations Human Rights Council to establish an independent international investigation into the drug war killings in the Philippines, including violations against children.

The rights group made the call after it launched a 48-page report titled “‘Our Happy Family Is Gone’: Impact of the ‘War on Drugs’ on Children in the Philippines.”

“(The UNHRC and its member states) have both the responsibility and mandate to hold accountable the perpetrators and give justice to victims… They owe it to the children who've been affected by the drug war,” HRW UN deputy director Laila Matar said in a virtual press conference.

The report detailed the plight of children whose parents or guardians have been killed from President Rodrigo Duterte’s drug war.

The report presented information on 23 drug war deaths, gathered through HRW’s interviews with 49 people, including 10 children, 23 parents, relatives or guardians, and 16 individuals from government offices and non-government groups.

HRW said some children had suffered psychological distress and experienced economic hardship made worse by the death of a family breadwinner. Some also experienced bullying, left school or compelled to work. Some were also forced to live on streets.

“Filipino children have suffered horribly from President Duterte’s decision to unleash the police and their hit men against suspected drug users,” Carlos Conde, Philippine researcher at HRW, said.

“The government needs to stop this endless violence that is upending children’s lives and direct assistance to the children harmed,” he added.

HRW Asia deputy director Phil Robertson said the needs of the children affected by the drug war also remained unaddressed.

“There is no program for the children left behind. The killings get the attention of the top people but repairing the damage is not spoken about in Malacañang,” he said.

“While the Department of Social Welfare and Development provides the usual assistance, such as shouldering burial expenses, it does not have a significant outreach campaign for these families and their children, leaving any economic and psychosocial or mental health interventions to religious, nongovernmental, and community groups,” HRW said.

With this, HRW said government agencies should address the needs of children.

They also called on the Duterte government to end the drug war and cooperate with independent bodies to investigate the many deaths caused by it.

The International Criminal Court opened a preliminary examination into the complaints filed about Duterte's drug war in February 2018, prompting him to withdraw the Philippines from the court.

In June 2019, the UNHRC passed a resolution requesting the Office of the UN HIgh Commissioner for Human Rights to submit a comprehensive report regarding the human rights situation in the Philippines.

Marta said the office is expected to present the report to the Human Rights Council during its Geneva session in June. -NB, GMA News