Palace hit for ‘blatant move to evade accountability’ in UNHRC report – Karapatan

MANILA, Philippines — Malacañang was slammed Saturday for branding as “faulty” the latest report of the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) on the country’s right violations.

Human rights group Karapatan said Malacañang’s remark was a “blatant and desperate move to evade accountability” for the human rights situation in the Philippines.

“For Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque and the Duterte administration to baselessly smear these conclusions as ‘faulty,’ given the process conducted, is an indication of its shunning of any and all forms of independent study and views on the rights situation in the country,” Karapatan Secretary General Cristina Palabay said in a statement.

“It is nothing but a blatant and desperate move to evade accountability amid growing opposition to the Duterte administration and its bloody reign of State terror,” she added.

Karapatan’s statement was in response to Roque’s earlier statement that Malacañang will not fully commit to the recommendations in the UNHRC report because the conclusions in the document were “faulty.”

The UNHRC’s 26-page report concluded that human rights violations in the Philippines stemmed from the government’s “heavy-handed approach” against national security threats and narcotics. It also noted that the Duterte administration’s handling of drug-related killings was “near impunity.”

The UN rights body likewise recommended that the Philippine government should stop the highly-criticized “Oplan Tokhang” to end the “extrajudicial killings among drug users” and to “abolish the compilation and publication of ‘drug watch lists’ at all administrative levels.”

Karapatan stressed that the UNHRC report was not baseless as the UN body conducted an impartial and independent probe into the country’s human rights situation.

“The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights received a staggering 893 written submission and 793 individually signed template-based letters. It had discussions with government representatives. It has validated the data received from numerous sources. It interviewed victims and witnesses,” Palabay said.

“It has formed its conclusions and recommendations based on its independent and impartial process — and it has concluded that the human rights situation in the Philippines is rapidly deteriorating,” she added.