Before UNHCHR, CHR calls on Duterte gov't to scale down rhetoric in drug war

Commission on Human Rights commissioner Karen Lucia Gomez-Dumpit on Tuesday called on the government to stop its “harmful” rhetoric from the highest levels of authority in the  campaign against illegal drugs.

In a statement delivered before the 44th session of the Human Rights Council, Dumpit said while the CHR acknowledged the government’s engagement with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights as “a sign of greater cooperation with independent mechanisms,” it still regrets the public rejection of its conclusions and recommendations.

“There is a continuing obligation for the State to end impunity, pursue social justice, and uphold the dignity and human rights of all," Dumpit said.

"Part of this obligation is to accept the report’s findings and recommendations, continue to dialogue, take definitive steps to demonstrate the effectiveness of domestic mechanisms, and cooperate with other independent accountability mechanisms including the special procedures,” she added.

Dumpit said the “over-reliance” on a “strong-arm” approach had largely contributed to the pervading culture of impunity.

To improve the human rights situation in the country, Dumpit said the government must “change course” guided by the “human rights-based approach to democratic governance.”

“Immediately halt the harmful rhetoric from the highest levels of authority. Communicate clear messages to frontliners who deliver the promotion and protection of human rights on the ground,” Dumpit said.

“Adopt a language in policy and practice respectful of democratic institutions and processes, including the media for its role to inform and stimulate public debate,” she added.

Dumpit said the government should allow the Philippine National Police, the Internal Affairs Service, and other government agencies to fully cooperate with the CHR in investigating extrajudicial killings and other human rights violations in the country.

She also asked the Duterte government to enable accountability mechanisms to “fulfill the rights to truth, access to justice and effective remedies for all victims” such as accounting and locating every killing and other human rights violations in the justice system, providing effective protection for victims, whistle blowers and witnesses, and prosecuting all perpetrators.

Dumpit also called for direct and adequate assistance to all victims of the anti-drug campaign and the families left behind and to accelerate the decongestion program to “alleviate” the condition of persons deprived of liberty.

Further, she asked the government to report to CHR all incidents of deaths in custody to guarantee transparency.

Dumpit also recommended to revise the current legislative agenda to remove the reintroduction of the death penalty and the proposal to lower the minimum age of criminal responsibility and establish the national preventive mechanism as the CHR is prepared to accept the designation, with civil society representative.

She asked the government to reconsider the enactment of the anti-terror bill to include “stronger human rights safeguards.”

“The Commission stands together with the victims, disadvantaged groups and human rights defenders in valuing the Council as the fulcrum of international discourse and cooperation for the protection of all human rights,” she said.

“This has encouraged us to defend our shrinking civic space and respond to human rights attacks on the ground,” Dumpit added. -NB, GMA News