MANILA, Philippines—The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) has formed an inter-agency task force to investigate the rising number of vigilante-style killings of suspected petty criminals, including children, in Davao City.
In a statement, the CHR said it had “compelling reasons” to broaden collaboration with various agencies to “facilitate the resolution of issues, such as witness protection, drugs, minor victims and accountability of public officials, among others.”
More than 500 people, including minors, have been killed since the first reports of vigilante killings in 1998. Early reports pointed to a so-called “Davao Death Squad” as being behind the killings, allegedly with the backing of powerful local government officials.
The CHR-led task force will include the military, police, the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), and the Department of Justice (DOJ), among others.
The Constitution empowers the CHR to convene a multi-agency group and request the assistance of any department, bureau, office or agency to help investigate human rights abuses in the country.
Last March, the CHR began a series of public inquiries into the killings in Davao City. Most of the victims were suspected criminals involved in petty crimes.
“The [Davao Death Squad] phenomenon is a paradox in itself where a city, which prides itself in its peacefulness and orderliness, is also plagued by an unabated string of vigilante killings,” the CHR said.
United Nations Special Rapporteur for Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Executions Philip Alston had expressed concern about the rising number of vigilante killings in Davao, noting that some were children suspected of pickpocketing.
Alston also noted in a report last year that extrajudicial killings were occurring in various parts of the country, targeting mostly political dissidents, labor leaders and journalists. He suspected it was connected to the government’s attempt to eradicate the communist insurgency before President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo steps down in 2010.
Human rights advocates estimate more than 800 extrajudicial killings since Ms Arroyo’s term began in 2001. Government denied it was behind these killings but convictions in such cases have been few.
