Philippine leader Duterte’s drugs war faces challenge as court orders police to halt tests in Manila neighbourhoods
Thousands had been surveyed and some tested in a door-to-door antinarcotics campaign in Manila’s Quezon City from May this year
Police have been forced to stop conducting drug surveys and testing in the Philippine capital’s biggest and most populous area after a lawyers’ group representing residents filed a petition before a court, a police chief said on Tuesday.
Human rights groups and Duterte’s political opponents have said tests conducted by police amounted to harassment that could endanger the lives of those who tested positive. Activists say large numbers of users have been killed during the campaign, often by mysterious gunmen.
Community officials were still allowed to go around the city’s 142 neighbourhoods asking people to complete surveys about drug use and take voluntary urine tests, said Guillermo Eleazar, Quezon City police chief.