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THE WEEK IN RIGHTS | MARCH 2, 2017 |
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Photo © 2016 Carlo Gabuco for Human Rights Watch | Philippine police are falsifying evidence to justify unlawful killings in a “war on drugs” that has caused more than 7,000 deaths. President Rodrigo Duterte’s role in these killings makes him ultimately responsible for the deaths of thousands.
New Human Rights Watch research finds that the killing campaign against suspected drug users and dealers, openly encouraged and applauded by President Duterte, is effectively a war on the urban poor that could amount to crimes against humanity.
Human Rights Watch’s Emergencies Director Peter Bouckaert has documented this unprecedented wave of killing in the capital, Manila. We asked him how he was able to track the police killing squads. |
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| | | “We were surprised when we saw the [attack helicopters] coming and surrounding the whole village. … They were shooting at anything moving, anything that moved they shot, human or animal, even donkeys.” |
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| | | Ahmad's words still haunt me. He spoke calmly, but the despair and anger in his eyes were obvious. How is it possible to reject someone’s right to safety and protection in just one sentence, I wondered? |
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| | | Video recorded by a resident in a nearby building shows the police hitting the protesters with batons and using police dogs to disperse the group. It reveals no aggressive actions by the demonstrators. |
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| | | The New York State Governor is supporting legislation that bans all marriage in NY under the age of 17. Currently, children as young as 14-years-old can be legally married. Let’s keep the pressure on and make sure this harmful practice is ended! |
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