FILE PHOTO: Human rights lawyer Chel Diokno says the Duterte administration “clearly” turned the Philippine National Police into a “killing machine” as he demanded “urgent and immediate action” regarding the allegation of a rewards system in the implementation of the previous administration’s bloody “drug war.” INQUIRER.net/Ryan Leagogo
MANILA, Philippines — Human rights lawyer Chel Diokno demanded “urgent and immediate action” regarding the allegation of a rewards system in the implementation of the Duterte administration’s bloody “drug war.”
“The [Philippine National Police] was clearly turned into a killing machine by the previous government. Everyone involved in the War on Drugs must be held accountable, led by [President Rodrigo Duterte] and his cohorts,” Diokno said in a statement Saturday.
At the House quad committee hearing on Friday night, retired police colonel Royina Garma revealed that President Rodrigo Duterte wanted to apply a nationwide rewards system for police officers involved in the implementation of his war on drugs campaign.
READ: Garma: Duterte rewarded cops for ‘drug war’ kills
Garma told lawmakers about an anti-drug drive “template” in Davao, which Duterte purportedly wanted to carry through on a national scale and which entailed the offering of cash incentives to police officers for every drug suspect killed.
“No civilized society can tolerate giving rewards for the taking of human lives. Criminals must be punished in accordance with the law, not killed. We must never ever have a police force that is both judge and executioner,” pointed out Diokno, chair of the human rights lawyers network Free Legal Assistance Group.
READ: Diokno: House can focus on Dela Rosa’s ‘drug war’ memo
The veteran rights advocate also renewed his call for a ban on the use of narco and drug lists, stronger accountability measures, a clearance from the Commission on Human Rights as a requirement for promotions in the police force, and the creation of an independent forensics agency.