CHR Chair Chito Gascon LYN RILLON
The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) has opened an investigation of the alleged extrajudicial killings (EJKs) of three drug suspects in Manila that were captured on video, which the Reuters news agency published on Tuesday.
But the Senate is passing up an inquiry, as its committee on public order and dangerous drugs that is looking into alleged unlawful killings in President Rodrigo Duterte’s brutal war on drugs is already drafting its report on its investigation into alleged police slayings of minors in the crackdown.
Besides, there is no resolution for an inquiry, the committee chair, Sen. Panfilo Lacson, said on Wednesday.
Several rights groups, including the CHR, on Wednesday condemned the Oct. 11 killings in Barangay 19, in Tondo, Manila, involving at least 15 officers from the antidrug unit of Police Station 2, or the Moriones Police Station on Dagupan Extension.
Captured on video
The midday killings were captured on video by four security cameras in the bustling neighborhood.
Reuters obtained footage of the killings, which it published on Tuesday, saying in a special report that the footage cast doubts on the official accounts of police killings in Mr. Duterte’s war on drugs.
Police always say they only kill in self-defense, and the Station 2 report on the Barangay 19 incident says it was a buy-bust operation that turned violent when the suspects opened fire on the officers.
But the video showed no drug dealing or armed suspects, just policemen arriving in the area minutes before the shootings.
Reuters quoted the wife of one of the victims as saying she had witnessed the shootings and that the three men were unarmed.
Philippine National Police Director General Ronald dela Rosa questioned Reuters’ timing, as Mr. Duterte was considering handing the lead role in the war on drugs back to the PNP after giving it earlier to the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency.
Dela Rosa said drug lords could be behind the release of the video to block the return of the war on drugs to the PNP.
CHR probe
The CHR said on Wednesday it had launched an investigation to determine if there was strict adherence to police procedures in the Barangay 19 killings.
“It is a cause of concern for the CHR that there are serious allegations of abuse of authority that result in grave violations of human rights,” said Human Rights Chair Jose Luis Martin Gascon.
Gascon said the PNP and the National Bureau of Investigation should also investigate what really happened.
“We call on the PNP and the National Bureau of Investigation to fully investigate this, as we expect appropriate charges to be filed either with the [Office of the] Ombudsman or the prosecution service,” Gascon said
Carlos Conde of Human Rights Watch said the Reuters report showed how brutal the police could be, “emboldened as they are by the President’s repeated assurance that they won’t be held accountable for their actions.”
Wilnor Papa, human rights officer of Amnesty International Philippines, criticized Dela Rosa for suggesting drug lords were behind the Reuters report
“Evidence against the war on drugs has been released ever since, but the police choose to ignore it,” Papa said. “This report has nothing to do with their claims of destabilization, but only shows paranoia on the side of the government.”
The PNP killing of 17-year-old Kian Loyd delos Santos in Caloocan City in August was also captured on video and the officers involved had been investigated and recommended for dismissal.