AI slams Duterte over claims on killing criminals

President Rodrigo Duterte’s admission that he “personally” killed suspected criminals while serving as mayor of the city of Davao drew sharp criticism from Amnesty International.

Rafendi Djamin, Amnesty International’s Director for South East Asia and the Pacific, said that Duterte’s claim “takes the meaning of ‘state-sanctioned’ violence to a whole new level.”

“The climate of impunity in the Philippines has intensified even further since President Duterte began his brutal crackdown on suspected drug users and dealers in July, with a wave of unlawful killings claiming more than 5,000 lives across the country,” Djamin said in a statement Wednesday.

He said this will further embolden police and vigilantes to deliberately violate laws and commit more extrajudicial executions “without fear of being held to account.”

“President Duterte should be fulfilling his obligations by ordering investigations into these killings and bringing those responsible to justice, not claiming a part in them,” AI director said.

“Statements like these continue to give everybody, including the police in the Philippines a license to kill in the knowledge that they are protected by the President,” he added.

AI urged Duterte to end unlawful killings, and make a stand that “the unlawful use of force is not encouraged.”

It said Philippines authorities should stop pursuing a “bloody path they have set out on, and fulfil their duty to protect all people by ending incitement to violence.”/ac