Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte rejected on Friday criticism from the United Nations about a surge in killings of suspected drug traffickers and denied government responsibility, his spokesman said.
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In June, UN chief Ban Ki Moon condemned Mr Duterte for allowing extrajudicial killings of suspected drug dealers and users, calling them “illegal and a breach of fundamental rights and freedoms”.
Philippine Foreign Secretary Perfecto Yasay said on Monday that the Philippines is not pulling out of the United Nations, saying his country is committed to the organization despite its “frustrations”. Dela Rosa said the police’s stand against extrajudicial killings is uncompromising, vowing to punish those behind of killings outside of police operations.
Duterte described the U.N.as inutile, and lashed out at US police killings of black men.
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”.
Senator Leila de Lima, spearheading the inquiry, said she was concerned law enforcers and vigilantes may be using the crackdown “to commit murder with impunity”.
Asked about the possible consequences of his comments on Sunday, Duterte said: “I don’t (care) about them”.
“Maybe we’ll just have to decide to separate from the UN”, Duterte said, adding that he would call on China and the African countries to create another global organisation.
Vigilantes gangs are also taking things into their own hands on the streets; images show bodies bound with tape – their alleged crimes written on cardboard signs hung around their necks.
Duterte reportedly said Sunday: “Take us out of your organization”.
“I tend not to need to diss you”.
“He already ended up the press conference, as I observed, but the press was still needling him with a lot of questions so it was in this context that he made these statements”, Yasay said.
Mr Duterte said the United Nations had been unable to combat hunger and terrorism and had failed to end the killing of civilians in Iraq and Syria. “I say this because 16 million people voted for me and I have a large margin between me and the next candidate”.
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Duterte hit the UN’s supposed meddling in the state affairs when special rapporteurs from the intergovernmental body welcomed the challenge to look into the rising death toll attributed to the administration’s intensified war against illegal drugs.
