Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte, who has railed against the United Nations for criticising his government, has declined a request to meet UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, officials said yesterday.
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But he said the Philippines can take only so much, with China insisting that it owns the contested territories and refusing to recognize a July 12 ruling by an worldwide tribunal that invalidated Beijing’s territorial claims in the South China Sea based on historical grounds.
Davao City Government tweeted on its official account: “Let us pray for the victims of this unfortunate incident, especially for those who died”.
He said while anyone can submit a case to the International Criminal Court prosecutors there would be unlikely to initiate proceedings unless pressed by a global political movement. Duterte this week said the American president would have to first listen to him and understand the situation in his country.
While the presidential office claimed that Duterte’s schedule would not allow for the meeting, the rejection follows weeks of harsh criticism of the United Nations for expressing concern about Duterte’s drug war and its ensuing death toll. “We strongly urge the Philippines to ensure its law enforcement efforts comply with its human rights obligations”. The youngest person on the list was a five-year-old girl, who was killed during a police raid in the city of Dagupan, located north of the capital, Manila.
“I practically flew in the air”, Adrian Abilanosa said.
Human Rights Watch’s Asia director, Phelim Kine, related the first weeks of Mr Duterte’s rule as “nothing less than an absolute human rights disaster”.
“The numbers are absolutely shocking”.
Since Mr Duterte came to power in May approximately 2000 drug users and dealers have died in extra-judicial killings.
However, Davao itself is largely peaceful and Duterte has been credited with transforming it from a lawless town to a southern commercial hub for call centers and offshore business processing services.
Comments by the tough-talking president such as “all of you are into drugs, you sons of bitches…”
Speaking at Manila’s worldwide airport, Duterte warned more than 120 Filipino workers who returned from the Middle East to stay away from illegal drugs.
Duterte has insisted most of the 756 people confirmed killed by police were drug suspects who resisted arrest, while the others died due to gang members waging warfare against each other.
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More than 600,000 have surrendered to police since July 1, packing prisoners into already overcrowded jails.
