More than 700 people killed in Philippines drugs crackdown
Human rights groups call on UN to denounce killings of suspected users and dealers since Rodrigo Duterte won presidential election in May
President Rodrigo Duterte
During his campaign for the Philippine presidency, Rodrigo Duterte said 100,000 people would die in his drugs crackdown. Photograph: Malacanang Photo Bureau/Handout/EPA
Damien Gayle
@damiengayle
Tuesday 2 August 2016 11.45 EDT
Last modified on Tuesday 2 August 2016 17.00 EDT
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More than 700 suspected drug users or dealers have been killed by police or vigilantes in the Philippines in less than three months, say human rights campaigners, who are calling on the UN to denounce the violence.
Human Rights Watch, Stop Aids and International HIV/Aids Alliance are among more than 300 civil society groups that have signed joint letters to the International Narcotics Control Board (INCB) and the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), calling on them to break their silence over the crackdown.
“We are calling on the UN drug control bodies to publicly condemn these atrocities in the Philippines. This senseless killing cannot be justified as a drug control measure,” said Ann Fordham, executive director of the International Drug Policy Consortium (IDPC), which coordinated the letter.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/aug/02/more-than-700-killed-in-less-than-three-months-in-filipino-drugs-crackdown
