NEW YORK-based Human Rights Watch wants the Philippine government to invite an independent investigation which will involve the United Nations into the alleged direct involvement of President Rodrigo Duterte in extrajudicial killings.
In an emailed statement yesterday, Human Rights Watch cited the testimony of self-confessed hitman Edgar Matobato at the Senate hearing on extrajudicial killings on Thursday.
“The detailed testimony from a ‘death squad’ member that then-Mayor Duterte was personally involved in killings and ordered others are very serious allegations that require an independent investigation,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch.
Matobato, a member of the Davao City “death squad” from 1988 to 2003, said he himself killed about 50 people under direct orders from then-Mayor Duterte. “Our job was to kill criminals, rapists, (drug) pushers and snatchers,” Matobato testified. “We killed people almost on a daily basis.” He also described witnessing Duterte “(empty) two Uzi magazines” on a National Bureau of Investigation official in 1993.
“President Duterte can’t be expected to investigate himself, so it is crucial that the United Nations is called in to lead such an effort. Otherwise, Filipinos may never know if the president was directly responsible for extrajudicial killings,” added Adams.
Since Duterte took office on June 30, more than 2,000 people have been killed in his self-proclaimed “war on drugs.” The most recent National Police data shows that from July 1 to Sept. 4, police killed an estimated 1,011 suspected “drug pushers and users.” (Cong B. Corrales)
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