Criminals Not Human: Philippine Justice Secretary
Rukhshan Mir (@rukhshanmir) Published February 01, 2017 | 03:05 PM
MANILA, Feb 1, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 01st Feb, 2017 ) - The Philippine justice secretary on Wednesday brushed aside accusations that police killings of thousands of drug suspects may be crimes against humanity, stating criminals were not human.
Amnesty International earlier in the day accused police of murdering defenceless people or paying others to kill as part of President Rodrigo Duterte's drug war, and said the deaths may amount to crimes against humanity.
"The criminals, the drug lords, drug pushers, they are not humanity. They are not humanity," Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre told reporters when asked to comment on the Amnesty report. "In other words, how can that be when your war is only against those drug lords, drug addicts, drug pushers.
You consider them humanity? I do not." Among a litany of alleged crimes, Amnesty accused police of shooting dead defenceless people, fabricating evidence, paying assassins to murder drug addicts and stealing from those they killed or the victims' relatives.
It also said police were being paid by their superiors to kill, and documented victims as young as eight years old. "The police are behaving like the criminal underworld that they are supposed to be enforcing the law against," the report said.
Police have reported killing 2,555 people since Duterte took office seven months ago and immediately launched his war on crime, while nearly 4,000 others have died in unexplained circumstances, according to official figures.
Duterte has repeatedly made comments echoing similar sentiments to Aquirre's, urging police to kill drug users as well as traffickers. "Crime against humanity? In the first place, I'd like to be frank with you: are they humans? What is your definition of a human being" Duterte said in August last year referring to drug offenders.
"Human rights? Use it properly in the right context if you have the brains." The next month Duterte said he would be "happy to slaughter" three million drug addicts, and likened his campaign to Nazi leader Adolf Hitler's efforts to exterminate Jews in Europe.
However the Philippine National Police and the presidential office issued statements on Wednesday rejecting many of the assertions in the Amnesty report. "The PNP has always observed and upheld respect for human rights," a police statement said.
National police chief Ronald Dela Rosa also rejected accusations that the police officers were getting secret bonuses for killing alleged drug offenders. He insisted only two percent of the police force was corrupt.
This was despite Duterte saying on Monday that the police force was "corrupt to the core", with nearly 40 percent of all officers involved in graft, and ordered them to suspend their activities in the drug war.
Related Topics
Recent Stories
Pakistan, Japan agrees to convene 'Economic Policy Dialogue'
FM Dar conveys deepest sympathy on torrential rains devastation in UAE
Spain PM Sanchez says weighing resignation after wife's graft probe
Tennis: ATP/WTA Madrid Open results - 1st update
Long-lost Klimt portrait auctioned off for 30 mn euros
Osaka seals first win on clay since 2022 in Madrid
Earthquake jolts Karachi
Sindh minister orders operation after attack on police in Ghotki
TikTok to fight US ban law in courts
Anger among Ukrainians in Poland as Kyiv halts passport renewals
Police book youngster for abusing student for one year
British-Pakistani firm unveils $35 million luxury apartments for overseas Pakist ..
More Stories From World
-
Spain PM Sanchez says weighing resignation after wife's graft probe
4 minutes ago -
Long-lost Klimt portrait auctioned off for 30 mn euros
4 minutes ago -
TikTok to fight US ban law in courts
21 minutes ago -
Anger among Ukrainians in Poland as Kyiv halts passport renewals
21 minutes ago -
Teenage girl arrested after stabbing at Welsh school
40 minutes ago -
Pakistan Day Reception in Pakistan Embassy Abu Dhabi
1 hour ago
-
Russia, Ukraine to exchange displaced children after rare talks
2 hours ago -
Vaccines saved at least 154 million lives in 50 years: WHO
2 hours ago -
EU parliament's youngest lawmaker eyes re-election
2 hours ago -
10 dead as floods wreak havoc in Kenyan capital
2 hours ago -
UAE announces $544 million for repairs after record rains
3 hours ago -
Hamas releases video of Israeli-American hostage held in Gaza
3 hours ago