In aid of seeking truth and accountability behind deaths allegedly linked to the government’s anti-drug campaign, the Commission on Human Rights (CHR) offers its findings based on an earlier analysis of incidents of killings and violence documented since the said campaign started in 2016 until February 2020.
The report covers 579 incidents found in NCR, Region III, and Region IV-A. While killings span across administrative regions, these areas have registered the highest numbers of killings allegedly linked to the government’s anti-drug campaign. At the same time, the status and content of the investigation records and reports available to CHR, as well as the recurring obstacles in accessing police records pertaining to cases in question, impacted the extent of the study.
CHR’s report, nevertheless, was able to observe the widespread nature of killings. From the sample 579 cases, 870 were recorded as victims, at least 71 of whom are women, and at least 24 were minors. Four hundred fifty one (451) incidents of killings were allegedly attributed to police operations; 104 were said to be committed by unidentified perpetrators; while 24 incidents have no sufficient information as to the circumstances.
The 451 cases of killings allegedly linked to police operations tallied 705 victims and, out of this number, the police claims 466 individuals initiated aggression or resisted arrest or the so-called ‘nanlaban’ cases. However, despite police protocols prescribing necessary and reasonable force in subduing resistance by an aggressor, only two (2) percent or 11 individuals survived the alleged ‘nanlaban’ incidents.
Records of at least 87 victims contained information on the wounds or injuries found—mostly multiple gunshot wounds on different parts of the body, usually the head, chest, trunk, and abdomen. Blunt force and injury and lacerations were also found on some of the victims.
Notably, the Supreme Court, in decision on the plea of the self-defense of law enforcement (Ocampo v. People of the Philippines), ruled that the location of a deceased aggressor’s gunshot wounds may suggest an intent to kill and not just to defend oneself.
It was also observed that, for investigation reports secured by CHR from the police, 77 out of 90 reports complete with results of internal investigation findings contained recommendations that police operatives involved in the said incidents are either to be awarded, rewarded, or recognised. Some reports, while no mention of commendation, upheld legitimacy of operations and, in few reports, recommended that participating operatives be absolved from criminal or administrative liability.
There are also other patterns of discrepancies based on eyewitness accounts during drug operations by law enforcers, including: that the alleged operations might have not actually been conducted; that alleged ‘nanlaban’ victims could not have initiated a shootout; that some victims were said to be already under police custody when they were killed; that allegedly unjustified violence was prevalent in the conduct of said operations; that planting of evidence was observed by witnesses in some incidents; and that some victims killed might not have been the intended target of the operations.
With these findings, CHR continues to reaffirm its willingness to partner with the government in uncovering the truth behind these incidents of killings and other forms of violence allegedly linked to the government anti-drug campaign.
We continue to look forward to the realisation of the commitment of the government, through the Department of Justice (DOJ) in June 2020 before the Human Rights Council, that CHR, in our capacity as an independent monitoring body, will be involved in the review panel of some 5,655 cases of anti-drug operations where deaths occurred, including those being handled by the Administrative Order No. 35 Inter-agency Committee on Extra-Legal Killings, Enforced Disappearances, Torture, and Other Grave Violations to Life, Liberty and Security of Persons.
CHR stresses that speedy, impartial, and transparent investigations are crucial in delivering justice; thereby, addressing the observed ‘persistent impunity and formidable barriers to accessing justice’ flagged by the UN Human Rights Office to the Philippine Government.
Part of CHR’s report includes recommendations to the government to adopt the UN Minnesota Protocol in investigating potentially unlawful deaths in a prompt, effective and thorough, independent, impartial, and transparent manner. As such, the consequences of EO No. 02, s.2016 should also be revisited in view of the State’s obligation to investigate and hold every perpetrator to account.
We also appeal to Congress to enact a bill that defines and punishes extrajudicial killings based on international human rights laws and standards, and for the Supreme Court to develop a body of jurisprudence, adhering to the principle of stare decisis and the Bill of Rights found in the 1987 Constitution, to prevent courts from flip-flopping in their decisions toward the protection of their integrity and independence.
CHR welcomes the information table released by DOJ on the 52 cases currently under investigation. We hope that government uses this opportunity to finally bring cases to courts. With thousands of cases left to be scrutinised, we urge the government to do more in investigating deaths being linked to the so-called drug war. There is a clamour for justice waiting to be answered. ###