Philippines’ foreign Minister Perfecto Yasay Jr. said on Monday that the island country “remains committed” to the UN.
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Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte threatened Sunday to leave the United Nations over criticism of his pursuit of drug dealers. According to a report by Al Jazeera, Duterte answered queries about the consequences of his statement by saying he did not “give a sh*t” about the repercussions of his remarks.
And now Palace officials are saying, as they have said countless times before, that the President’s words created an impression different from that he had intended.
Duterte said the United Nations had been unable to tackle hunger and terrorism, and called on the body to refund its contribution “so we can go out”. “If you are that insulting, son of a bitch, we should just leave…”
On Thursday, the UN Special Rapporteur on summary executions, Agnes Callamard, had described the president’s statements on security forces’ operations against drug suspects as a “license to kill”. He said a further 1,067 people had been killed by vigilantes, blaming the deaths on drug syndicates, which he claimed were being investigated by police.
The Senator has questioned the campaign launched by Duterte in which he had encouraged citizens to kill drug users themselves and called for an inquiry into the high number of drug-related deaths since Duterte took office.
Speaking at a Senate hearing on extrajudicial killings, Ronald Dela Rosa said that 1,067 killings by vigilante groups have been documented over the same period.
He said the experts who openly criticized his anti-drug campaign have violated diplomatic protocol, adding that the proper procedure was to approach his government directly, instead of roasting him in public. Duterte criticized the United Nations, called the organization as inutile one, and lashed at US police killings of black men. I tell you, you’re [ not useful ].
On Thursday, Ms Callamard said “claims to fight the illicit drug trade do not absolve the government from its worldwide legal obligations and do not shield state actors or others from responsibility for illegal killings”.
“Claims to fight illicit drug trade do not absolve the government from its global legal obligations and do not shield state actors or others from responsibility for illegal killings”.
De Lima, who was the former secretary of the Department of Justice, has been following Duterte’s bloody war on drugs since he was the mayor of Davao City.
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While Duterte’s retort about USA police brutality in no way serves as an excuse for his draconian drug war, police brutality in the US, especially against the African-American community, is more commonly being cited by other countries when accused of committing rights abuses.
