CHR report on drug-related killings ‘incomplete’ – NTF-Elcac

MANILA, Philippines — The National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-Elcac) accused the Commission of Human Rights (CHR) of demonizing of government when it presented an incomplete picture of the anti-illegal drugs campaign of the Duterte administration,

The NTF-Elcac’s legal cooperation cluster, headed by the Office of the Solicitor General, criticized CHR’s April 22 report, which said that the “majority” off the “killings” were done “outside the context of law enforcement operation.”

“The CHR, being an integral part of the government, should not demonize the very government it ought to serve and protect, more so, without basis,” the cluster said in a statement on Friday.

“Rather than maligning it, the CHR should assist the government to protect the human rights of the police officers and the innocent public against the menace of illegal drugs, and to apply a fair approach before condemning the government without due process of law,” it added.

The CHR report, issued last week, said that drug-related killings have become “rampant and widespread,” occurring across the country’s regions during the Duterte administration, which, it said, “failed in its obligation to respect and protect the human rights of every citizen” as well as “encouraged a culture of impunity.”

According to the NTF-Elcac, the CHR’s conclusions were “bereft of any factual or legal bases,” adding that the 48-page report was “nothing but an attempt to discredit and malign the government, both locally and abroad, and seeks to push the narrative that the killings were ‘sanctioned’ by the state.”

The CHR said the slain victims “had actual or perceived links to illegal drugs” and “were killed with disproportionate and/or excessive force or in a brutal manner whether during alleged operations by law enforcers or during attacks by unidentified or private persons.”

The NTF-Elcac claimed the CHR report failed to provide “clear evidence” for its conclusions and were based on “mere assumptions and surmises.”

It pointed out that while the CHR report mentioned the statements of alleged witnesses to the purported killings, “no thorough investigation” was conducted on the backgrounds, motives, and/or the credibility of the witnesses.

There was also no mention of the law enforcement officers and agents who lost their lives in the antidrug campaign during this period, the cluster lamented, adding, “It is as if only the drug peddlers have human rights, but not the police officers who gave their lives in the line of duty to protect us.”

The CHR said in its report that while it supports campaigns to combat the effects and proliferation of dangerous drugs, the State should be reminded that such measures “must be coupled with a strong drive to promote due process, equal protection, full accountability, and the rule of law, thus, fulfilling its fundamental duty to uphold the rights and dignity of all.”

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