AWOL policeman Bobby Orit and his companion Danilo Guevarra lie

dead in front of a store at the Aroma Compound in Vitas, Tondo,

following a shootout with Manila policemen on Thursday. Investigators
say the two men, the targets of a buy-bust, shot first after they sensed
they were dealing with undercover lawmen. RAFFY LERMA
Commission on Human Rights (CHR) chairperson Jose Luis Chito Gascon on
Wednesday said the rising casualties at the height of President Rodrigo Dutertes war
on drugs was unprecedented since the commission was established in 1987.
During the committee hearing on the proposed P496.136 million CHR budget for
2017 at the House of Representatives, Gascon was asked about his statement during
the Senate inquiry on Tuesday that the International Criminal Court (ICC) may take
custody of the spate of summary killings in the country under Dutertes
administration.
READ: CHR: ICC may exercise jurisdiction over PH drug
killings if
Gascon said the ICC may take cognizance of the human rights violation cases
especially if the government failed to act upon the crimes against humanity, such as
genocide and war crimes.
The ICC can only intervene if the state itself unable or unwilling to address those
cases The cases of human rights violations could be within the ambit of the
International Criminal Court, but only if they fall within the mandate or jurisdiction of
the ICC (which includes) genocide or war crimes, or broadly referred to as crimes
against humanity, Gascon said.
Gascon exemplified that during the administration of former President and now
Pampanga lawmaker Gloria Arroyo, 100 to 200 human rights defenders, activists, and
journalists were killed in a 12 to 18 month period.
But during the first 55 days of the Duterte administration, close to 1,916 people were
killed during police operations and by vigilantes at the height of the administrations
war on drugs.
Gascon cited Philippine National Police (PNP) Director General Ronaldo Bato Dela
Rosa who said during the Tuesdays Senate hearing that 1,160 cases of deaths under
investigation were mostly vigilante killings, or those killed by assassins and dumped
on the streets of Manila with cardboard placards that read Pusher ako, huwag tularan
(Im a drug pusher, dont follow my example).
Dela Rosa had said the 1,160 deaths were not all drug-related; some involved
shooting, stabbing, hacking and strangulation cases.
READ: 756 who resisted killed
Gascon said on top of the 756 people killed for resisting arrests during police
operations, the number of casualties since Duterte waged his war on drugs reached
1,916 people killed.

We do have to stress that we have not experienced this scale or magnitude of cases
since the Commission of Human Rights was established in 1987, Gascon told the
lawmakers of the appropriations committee.
Gascon said perhaps the scale or magnitude of the summary killings may be eclipsed
by the human rights violations and atrocities during the martial law regime of the late
dictator Ferdinand Marcos.
If we go by the report of Director General De La Rosa yesterday, he said we have
recorded 1,160 recorded deaths under investigation, meaning possibly drug-related,
but perpetrators are not identified, (which means these are) possibly vigilante killings.
Plus another 700 plus persons killed under police operations, Gascon said.
So together, theyre close to 1,900 in the last 55 days since July 1. The magnitude or
scale is unprecedented, he added.
Gascon said the CHR was able to respond to only 20 percent of its active human
rights cases.
We confess that we as CHR are unable to respond to every single case at this time
What we are doing is documenting, trying to dig deeper, to go further. We are asking
the investigators to look into the profiles of the victims and to see if what is being said
na may mga karatula, na nakalagay na Huwag tularan, drug pusher, etc., Gascon
said.
Our objective is essentially documentation and calling, of course, on authorities to
fully investigate these, Gascon said.
Gascon said the spate of summary killings by vigilantes with cardboard posters calling
them pushers should be treated as crimes which law enforcement agencies should
fully investigate to bring the perpetrators to jail.
A significant part (of the killings) are those na nilalagyan ng karatula, called
vigilante justice. Ang aming panawagan is they should all be treated as crimes and
therefore, full force of the law of the bureaucracy in charge of law enforcement should
be directed at investigating all these cases, and ultimately uncovering the perpetuators
and bringing them to justice, Gascon said.
Gascon said the commission is grateful for the increase in the proposed budget for the
CHR according to the National Expenditure Program P496.136 million for 2017,
up 7.28 percent from the 2016 budget of P460.026 million.
Gascon urged the administration to look into a more rehabilitative and restorative
approach to drug criminality and not only focus on law enforcement operations.
Gascon proposed a more human approach of decongesting jails by moving drug
convicts to rehabilitation centers to free up the space in the countrys penitentiaries.
Gascon cited the experience of other countries where jails are closing down due to its
strong drug rehabilitation program and lenient sentences for drug offenses.
The solution is more restorative, or rehabilitative, regarding those involved in crimes
or possession or use of drugs. Move them away from jails to rehabilitation centers
instead. This might create room in our jails in the short immediate term, Gascon said.

We need to take a look from a health and reduction or damage or risks perspective,
rather than law-enforcement perspective. Something Senator Risa (Hontiveros)
referred to as moving from killing to healing, he added. JE
Read more: http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/809292/chr-extrajudicialkillings-in-duterte-war-on-drugs-unprecedented#ixzz4IImP13z9
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