Drug war killings increased during COVID-19 pandemic, says HRW

There has been an increase in the number of killings related to the government's war on illegal drugs amid the COVID-19 pandemic, according to rights group Human Rights Watch (HRW).

According to Carlos Conde, HRW - Asia Division researcher, killings in relation to the drug war went up by 50% between April to July 2020 compared to the previous four-month period.

This was based on the latest data of the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency indicating that a total of 5,810 individuals died during anti-illegal drug operations since 2016.

"Human Rights Watch analyzed the government’s statistics and found 155 persons were killed in the past four months. Before the COVID-19 crisis, police killed 103 persons from December 2019 to March 2020," Conde stated.

"The number of fatalities in these ostensible drug enforcement raids, in which the police routinely claimed that the victims fought back, jumped dramatically from the 26 deaths recorded by the PDEA in five months from July to November 2019," he added.

Conde said the latest number only covers deaths of drug suspects in police anti-drug operations. He noted that thousands were killed by unidentified assailants, many of whom are believed to be plainclothes police officers or vigilantes operating in coordination with local authorities.

He said the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights has claimed that over 8,600 people have died in the government's drug campaign while other rights groups believed that the number could be higher.

Conde also said only one case out of thousands has resulted in the conviction of police officers.

Due to this, Conde said the Human Rights Council should again tackle the issue of human rights abuses in the Philippines, in relation to the drug war, when it convenes this month.

"The government is expected to continue to deny the allegations rather than offer a constructive response. But as the government’s own statistics show, the atrocities in the 'drug war' have worsened, even as the country suffers the worst in the region from the pandemic," Conde pointed out.

GMA News Online has reached PDEA and the Philippine National Police for comment regarding the matter.

PDEA chief Director General Wilkins Villanueva previously said the drug war would be professional and massive under his leadership.

The Duterte administration's war against illegal drugs has been highly criticized by human rights groups, both local and international, due to the alleged extrajudicial killings perpetuated amid the enforcement of the campaign.

Earlier, PNP chief Police General Camilo Pancratius Cascolan said there is no such thing as extrajudicial killings, noting that President Rodrigo Duterte will never "sponsor" killings in the Philippines.

When he assumed post as PNP chief, Cascolan said small time drug users should not be killed during drug operations as he believed that they could be of help in tracking high value targets. —KBK, GMA News