Philippines’ war on drugs included ‘systematic extrajudicial killings with near impunity’ for police, UN report says

President Rodrigo Duterte was elected after promising a ruthless crackdown on narcotics, which may have constituted ‘permission to kill’

The most conservative figure suggests that 8,663 people have died, with other estimates up to triple that number, the report says

Reading Time:2 minutes

Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte with a sniper rifle in Quezon city. Photo: EPA

Published: 2:27pm, 4 Jun 2020Updated: 7:38pm, 4 Jun 2020

Tens of thousands of people in the Philippines may have been killed in the war on drugs since mid-2016, with “near impunity” for police and incitement to violence by top officials, the United Nations said on Thursday.

The drugs crackdown, launched by President Rodrigo Duterte after winning election on a platform of crushing crime, has been marked by police orders and high-level rhetoric that may have been interpreted as “permission to kill”, it said.

Police, who do not need search or arrest warrants to conduct house raids, systematically force suspects to make self-incriminating statements or risk facing lethal force, the UN human rights office said in a report.

There has been only one conviction, for the 2017 murder of Kian delos Santos, a 17-year-old Manila student, it said. Three police officers were convicted after CCTV footage led to public outrage, it said.

“Despite credible allegations of widespread and systematic extrajudicial killings in the context of the campaign against illegal drugs, there has been near impunity for such violations,” the report said.

Police say their actions in the anti-drug campaign have been lawful and that deaths occur in shoot-outs with dealers resisting arrest.

Select Voice

Choose your listening speed

Get through articles 2x faster

1.25x

250 WPM

Slow

Average

Fast

00:0000:00

1.25x