Drug war review should cover those who incited killings —Callamard

The Philippines’ review of deadly anti-narcotics operations should cover people who allegedly incited the killings of more than 5,000 drug suspects, United Nations (UN) special rapporteur Agnes Callamard said Friday.

Callamard, a critic of President Rodrigo Duterte’s signature policy, said there should be “no limit on who shall be included in that review, from the President to police commissioners below and in between.”

“Is the review panel prepared to tackle incitement? Is the review panel prepared to tackle those who have repeatedly said ‘I have your back’ to the killers in uniform, to the serial killers in uniform?” she said at a media forum organized by the Foreign Correspondents Association of the Philippines (FOCAP).

“The review panel must be prepared to integrate into its review [of] the systems, the leadership at the highest level that has allowed for that policy.”

Malacañang has repeatedly said that the deaths linked to the drug war were neither state-initiated nor sponsored despite observations that Duterte’s rhetoric may have incited violence against drug suspects.

The Department of Justice leads a panel of several government agencies, including law enforcement units, in reviewing 5,655 anti-drug operations that resulted in deaths to see whether to file charges against the police officers involved.

Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra announced the creation of the panel last June, weeks after the UN human rights chief, Michelle Bachelet, released a report finding "near impunity" for alleged extrajudicial killings committed in the Philippines.

Early this month, the Justice chief said the panel’s initial report was submitted to Duterte’s office.

The Commission on Human Rights, an independent government body, said that it was not involved in the review.

Asked for comment on Callamard's remarks, Guevarra told reporters that the special rapporteur's premise assumes that the killings are being encouraged, which he said is something "that is yet to be clearly established in each case."

"Nevertheless, the review panel will consider all relevant issues in the pursuit of its objective of exacting accountability," he said.

‘Angry’

Callamard, meanwhile, slammed the UN Human Rights Council’s offer last October to provide technical cooperation and capacity building for the promotion and protection of human rights in the Philippines.

She said she was “angry” and “mortified” after the UN body made that action.

“I saw that as a slap in the face of the victims, the families, [and] the face of journalists who have been reporting relentlessly, taking a lot of risk to report what’s happening at the forefront of the war on drugs,” she said.

“Why did the Human Rights Council go for that very soft, ridiculous resolution?”

Callamard expressed hope that another body, the International Criminal Court (ICC), will decide in favor of conducting a full-blown investigation into the drug war.

“I am now placing a lot of hope in the ICC,” she said.

Last December, ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda said there was a basis to believe that crimes against humanity were committed in the course of the anti-narcotics campaign.

Her office said she will decide whether to seek authorization from the court to open an investigation within the first half of 2021.

Malacañang said it does not recognize the jurisdiction of the ICC, citing the Philippines’ withdrawal from the Rome Statute that established the tribunal.

Bensouda, however, said the court retains jurisdiction over alleged crimes that have occurred on Philippine territory during the period when it was a state party to the Rome Statute from November 1, 2011 to March 16, 2019.

“Even without being able to enter the territory [of the Philippines], they [ICC] will be able to conduct a thorough investigation,” Callamard said. -MDM/LDF, GMA News