UK envoy: Significant shift in anti-drugs drive under Marcos important but rights challenges remain

The greater emphasis given by President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s administration to prevention and rehabilitation in the anti-illegal drugs campaign compared to his predecessor is a significant shift “that is really important to the international community,” United Kingdom ambassador to the Philippines Laure Beaufils said.

Beaufils told GMA News Online in an exclusive interview on Monday that the current administration “is really engaging on some of the key issues” of human rights, specifically the drive against prohibited drugs, but said challenges remain and the UK is supporting further work on the protection of human rights and is working closely with the government.

“We’re content that there is a genuine meaningful engagement that is about delivering progress and I think that is a very important indicator for us in terms of the relationship with the Philippines,” the UK envoy said.

Former President Rodrigo Duterte, who preceded Marcos Jr., oversaw a  crackdown that the Philippine National Police said left more than 6,000 drug suspects dead and hundreds of thousand others arrested and resulted in the seizure of large volumes of methamphetamine or “shabu” and other prohibited drugs.

International and Philippine human rights organizations have cited much higher death tolls and the scale of the drug deaths prompted the filing by some groups of complaints before the International Criminal Court, which is investigating the drug killings.

“We have seen a change in terms of how this administration and the previous one addresses human rights,” Beaufils said.

“This administration is really engaging on some of the key issues and specifically on the war [on drugs] and I think there is more emphasis now on prevention and rehabilitation than before. So, that is a significant shift that is really important to the international community,” she added.

The UK, Beaufils said, is a funding partner of the UN joint program on human rights “because we recognize that while there has been progress, there are, nonetheless, tricky structural challenges on human rights and that the government is wanting to engage with the international community to address some of these tricky challenges.”

“We support further work on human rights,” she said.

The UK’s top envoy cited several reports of “very visible extra-judicial killings,” including of politicians in recent weeks, which is “a concern for the government as well as for Filipinos.”

The UK is continuing to support tools to address human rights challenges like strengthening the judicial system “that it is robust so that where there are perpetrators of extrajudicial killings, they can be taken to court and that there is ultimately accountability because the notion of accountability is really very important.”

“This is an important area of work in terms of the extent to which it will influence how we will engage,” Beaufils said.

She added that even the private sector “also looks to rule of law and security issues as an important indicator.”

Human rights groups have expressed concern over continuing deaths of drug suspects in government raids during Marcos' term.

ICC

Asked if it’s important for the Philippines to cooperate with the ICC investigation on the drug killings that happened under Duterte, Beaufils said it’s important “as much as it demonstrates an appreciation for the importance of the ICC and some of these international institutions.”

“It shows that there’s a willingness to engage with these international institutions and that these issues are of international interest and significance. I think it is important in that respect,” she said.

Asked if the decision of the Philippines to rejoin the ICC or not would affect UK assistance to the country, she said the UK “don’t currently take such a black and white approach on things. We don’t apply that level of conditionality in terms of our engagement.”

“Our relationship is partners and friends where we work together on issues, where we have different views on issues but we don’t have a black and white triggers like this.”

Last week, Marcos said in an interview with reporters that there was no more reason for Philippines to get involved with the ICC after its Appeals Chamber rejected a government appeal to suspend its investigation into the drug killings.

"We don't have next move. That's the extent of our involvement with the ICC. That ends our involvement with the ICC," Marcos said. "The appeal has failed. In our view, there’s nothing more that we can do... At this point we are essentially disengaging from any contact, communication with the ICC."

A court of last resort, the ICC, created in 1998, investigates atrocities against humanity in countries unable or unwilling to prosecute such crimes.

After the The Hague-based court launched a preliminary investigation on Duterte’s drug war, the former president withdrew the country’s ratification of the Rome Statute in March 2019.

Philippine officials stressed that the government opposes extrajudicial killings and would prosecute law enforcers committing such crimes. —KG, GMA Integrated News