“License to Kill”

Recommendations

Info

We will not allow anybody to derail this effort of the [police] and its officers to implement the order of our president to stop this drug trafficking and drug menace in our society. I am here to encourage the PNP not to be afraid of any congressional or Senate investigations. We will defend them [the police]. If there is a “fiscalizer,” I am the neutralizer and the defender of the PNP. 305 Similarly, Secretary of Justice Vitaliano Aguirre II, a classmate and law school fraternity brother of Duterte, has repeatedly refused to respond to calls to investigate the war-ondrugs deaths, “[D]esperate times call for desperate measures,” he said. “So that is what the president is doing and we support it.” 306 He has dismissed allegations that the police are involved in extrajudicial killings, claiming that the police only kill armed suspects resisting arrest, and blamed many of the drug killings on the drug dealers themselves: I think we have to take [the killings] in the proper perspective. These are desperate times. We are in a crisis. …President Duterte was very clear on this matter: there will be no killing of unarmed offenders. You use force only when your life is in danger and that’s what the police forces in the Philippines are doing. You must remember also that many of the deaths were caused by the drug lords themselves. They are afraid that their lieutenants might squeal on them, might be witnesses against them, and so they are the ones who kill [them]. 307 On February 1, Aguirre responded to allegations by Amnesty International that the “drug war” killings constituted possible crimes against humanity by stating that “Criminals… drug lords, drug pushers, they are not the humanity. You consider them humanity? No. I believe not.” 308 305 Ibid. 306 “The Stream–Philippines’ war on drugs,” August 23, 2016, Al Jazeera, video clip, YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDZ2KRPQFSI. 307 Ibid. 308 Kathrina Charmaine Alvarez, “Aguirre on AI report: ‘Drug lords, addicts not part of humanity,’” February 1, 2017, GMA News, http://www.gmanetwork.com/news/story/597886/news/nation/aguirre-on-ai-report-drug-lords-addicts-not-part-ofhumanity-nbsp#sthash.keF34hRD.dpuf (accessed February 3, 2017). LICENSE TO KILL 94
Promised Immunity to Subordinate Commanders President Duterte, in encouraging the police to carry out his anti-drug campaign, has repeatedly said he would protect them from prosecution. On July 19, 2016, at a fellowship dinner with his former law school classmates, Duterte said that police officers could carry out the “war on drugs” without worrying about being prosecuted: “The president can grant pardon, conditional or absolute; or grant amnesty with the concurrence of Congress. I’ll use it, believe me.” 309 During an August 21 press conference, he explained that his promises to protect the police was one of the reasons why the “war on drugs” had become so bloody: Remember, I went in warning everyone, I said, it could be bloody because I knew that the police would now be equipped with a certain mindset, that they will be protected by law if they go in and have this, you know, violent confrontation. Because before they were afraid of these human rights, and a lot of them lost their jobs because they could not even have a lawyer to defend themselves. 310 Duterte has also warned human rights organizations not to file cases against police and army officers for extrajudicial killings saying, “I would like to say now—they will never go to prison—not under my watch.” 311 On November 5, police officers shot dead inside the Leyte prison Albuera Mayor Rolando Espinoza Sr., whom Duterte had accused of involvement in the drug trade, and a fellow inmate. The National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) determined that the killings were a 309 Christina Mendez, “Duterte to pardon cops in drug killings,” Philippine Star, July 19, 2016, http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2016/07/19/1604381/duterte-pardon-cops-drug-killings. 310 “Press Conference of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte,” Official Gazette of the Government of the Philippines, http://www.gov.ph/2016/08/21/press-conference-of-president-rodrigo-roa-duterte-august-21-2016/. 311 Cris Larano, “Philippine leader Rodrigo Duterte links judges, politicians, police to illegal drugs trade,” Wall Street Journal, August 8, 2016, https://www.wsj.com/articles/philippine-leader-duterte-links-judges-politicians-police-to-illegal-drugtrade-1470588037. 95 HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH | MARCH 2017
Page 1:
H U M A N R I G H T S W A T C H “
Page 4 and 5:
Copyright © 2017 Human Rights Watc
Page 6 and 7:
Norberto Maderal, George Avanceña,
Page 9:
SUMMARY HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH | MARCH
Page 12 and 13:
On the afternoon of October 14, 201
Page 14 and 15:
Jayson Asuncion, 37, surrendered to
Page 16 and 17:
A barangay official told Rogie Seba
Page 18:
A family picture with the coffin of
Page 21 and 22:
Human Rights Watch examined the pol
Page 23 and 24:
Six masked armed men burst into a M
Page 25 and 26:
Relatives of Edward Sentorias, 34,
Page 28 and 29:
and his top subordinates have denie
Page 31 and 32:
“Hitler massacred three million J
Page 33 and 34:
Methodology From October 2016 to Ja
Page 35 and 36:
eal crime wave unleashed by his own
Page 37 and 38:
Duterte was Davao City mayor for mo
Page 39 and 40:
sanctioned death squads in cities i
Page 41 and 42:
“And if in the process you kill o
Page 43 and 44:
The human rights [activists] said I
Page 45 and 46:
Adviser Hermogenes Esperon confirme
Page 47 and 48:
meant to indicate that police opera
Page 49 and 50:
the suspects had been in police cus
Page 51 and 52: uyer was to purchase one (1) piece
Page 53 and 54: Media accounts of the incident said
Page 55 and 56: Approximately 30 minutes after the
Page 57 and 58: no reason to lie about this. That i
Page 59 and 60: Napoleon Miras Ai-Ai, July 24 Baran
Page 61 and 62: [T]he suspect sensed that he was be
Page 63 and 64: Noel Alberto, “Sarah,” Septembe
Page 65 and 66: Antonio’s relatives believe that
Page 67 and 68: cops came on a motorbike. The unifo
Page 69 and 70: locked off the area and told the fa
Page 71 and 72: thereafter, gunshots rang out, and
Page 73 and 74: Virgilio Mirano, September 27 Baran
Page 75 and 76: Jury Jana, October 4 Baragay 120, C
Page 77 and 78: At about 11 p.m. on October 4, Visd
Page 79 and 80: the police. 218 On October 20, the
Page 81 and 82: ody. They covered the body with a b
Page 83 and 84: Heart de Chavez, January 10; “Joa
Page 85 and 86: killings. The police report states
Page 87 and 88: III. Prohibition of Extrajudicial E
Page 89 and 90: Philippine Law The Philippine Const
Page 91 and 92: y the physical perpetrators needs t
Page 93 and 94: Unlike war crimes, crimes against h
Page 95 and 96: If I became president, you all shou
Page 97 and 98: etter believe me.” 296 Duterte to
Page 99 and 100: On September 20, Duterte responded
Page 101: noted, since Duterte has taken offi
Page 105 and 106: V. International Response to Dutert
Page 107 and 108: Duterte responded: “Why are you s
Page 109 and 110: Shortly after the November election
Page 111 and 112: agree to be together or not, whethe
Page 113 and 114: Ahead of Duterte’s state visit to
Page 115 and 116: statement, stating, “Please formu
Page 117 and 118: suspected drug dealers and drug use
Page 119 and 120: The International Criminal Court In
Page 121 and 122: • End the criminalization of the
Page 123 and 124: To the Department of Health • Enc
Page 125 and 126: • Consider reviewing the Philippi
Page 127 and 128: Annex I: Excerpts from Police Repor
Page 129 and 130: direction of the approaching lawmen
Page 131 and 132: Napoleon Miras Ai-Ai, alias “Nono
Page 133 and 134: Garry Catungal, alias “Opay,” o
show all

“License to Kill”

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?