MANILA, Philippines—Commission on Human Rights (CHR) Chair Leila de Lima on Thursday challenged the police to end the spate of arbitrary killings so the people may see the authorities’ worth as a “fortress of human rights protection.”

De Lima also reminded the police to uphold human rights despite the confusion and adrenaline rush they may feel during armed encounters.

“There is no such thing as pro- or anti-government when it comes to human rights. There is only for human rights and against it. And for those of us on the side of human rights, there can be no fence-sitting,” she said in a speech at Camp Crame on Thursday.

The occasion was the signing of an agreement between the Philippine National Police and Hanns Seidel Foundation of Germany on the implementation of human rights programs and training for police officers.

’Write finis’

De Lima said the joint project must translate to consistent behavior by operatives on the ground and must allow the PNP to “write finis to these spate of summary killings.”

Policemen last week engaged suspected car thieves in a purported shootout on Edsa and NIA Road that left three dead. Months before, police killed innocent civilians in a shootout with suspected car thieves in Las Piñas.

Describing the latest incident as an “unmistakably sorry example” of police officers on the wrong side of human rights, De Lima urged PNP Director General Jesus Verzosa to punish the policemen involved.

“I fully expect they will not just be preventively suspended or transferred or relieved, they must be punished not just for arbitrarily taking the life of suspected criminals but for violating the sacredness of human rights that belong to the very people they serve,” she said.