Gascon urges Duterte to allow UN probe of rights abuses

CHR Chair Chito Gascon LYN RILLON

Commission on Human Rights (CHR) Chair Jose Luis Martin Gascon on Sunday urged the Duterte administration to allow UN investigators to look into alleged human rights violations in the Philippines.

“We call on the government to extend a standing invitation to all UN special rapporteurs and other relevant mechanisms in order to assist with ensuring that the perpetrators of human rights violations will ultimately be held to account in order to end the climate of impunity that has prevailed in this country for far too long,” he said.

Gascon has incurred the ire of President Rodrigo Duterte for investigating some of the killings in the war on drugs, which prompted the House of Representatives to slash the CHR budget for 2018 to just P1,000.

But the House move resulted in a strong public backlash, forcing the congressmen to give the CHR P508 million, 30 percent lower than the originally proposed P623.38 million.

“If the DFA (Department of Foreign Affairs) intends to show its sincerity to the international community with regards to the state’s human rights obligations, it must now take steps to
operationalize President Duterte’s invitation to allow long-term human rights monitors into the country and ensure that the costs of maintaining the same are adequately provided for,” Gascon said.