‘Do not interfere in Duterte’s drug war’ – Rights respected: Yasay

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UNITED NATIONS, Sept 25, (Agencies): Philippines Foreign Minister Perfecto Yasay told the United Nations on Saturday his country’s new president, Rodrigo Duterte, had an “unprecedented” mandate and the world should not interfere in his crackdown on crime. Addressing the annual UN General Assembly, Yasay said the Duterte government was “determined to free the Philippines from corrupt and other stagnating practices, including the manufacture, distribution and use of illicit drugs. “Our actions, however, have grabbed both the national headlines and international attention for all the wrong reasons,” he said. “We urge everyone to allow us to deal with our domestic challenges in order to achieve our national goals without undue interference.” Duterte won a landslide election victory on May 9 after vowing to wipe out drugs and crime. Police said this week that in the past 11 weeks, nearly 3,000 people had been killed in Duterte’s war on drugs, a figure adjusted from the 3,800 they cited last week.

Widespread
The killings have drawn widespread international criticism, including from the United Nations, drawing angry responses from Duterte. On Thursday, the Philippine leader hurled insults at UN Secretary- General Ban Ki-moon and the European Union, then invited them to come to investigate his crackdown. Yasay said Duterte had won “an unprecedented and resounding electoral mandate” and now enjoyed a 92 percent approval rating. As such, he had to deliver on a “sacred” call for change. “To him, this trust is sacrosanct,” Yasay said.

“It cannot be breached, under no circumstance must it be compromised.” Duterte’s defiance of high-profile organizations and his insults of anyone from US President Barack Obama to the pope have amused many Filipinos, but worried foreign governments — not the least the United States, which sees Manila as a vital partner in Asia in the face of a rising China. Some analysts predict Duterte will seek to diversify foreign relations beyond Washington, including by seeking better ties with erstwhile maritime foe China. Yasay said core values enshrined in the Philippine constitution included the mandate “to pursue an independent foreign policy, to promote the national interest.”

At the same time, he said Manila would remain “a responsible partner of the international community,” committed to the rule of law — including an international court ruling this year in favor of the Philippines and against China over competing claims in the South China Sea.

In spite of Duterte’s criticisms of the world body, Yasay said the United Nations had demonstrated “continuing resilience and relevance” and added in apparent reference to the US alliance: “Our domestic concerns compel us to partner with like-minded countries in the areas of maritime security, counter-terrorism, disaster response, and transnational crime.” Yasay said Duterte’s crackdown is guided by a respect for human rights and the legal system, even though thousands of drug dealers and users have been killed in recent months.

“The rule of law and strict adherence to due process fully governs our campaign against corruption and criminality, including the fight against illegal drugs,” he said. More than 3,000 suspected drug dealers and users have been killed since July and more than 600,000 others have surrendered out of fear of being killed. Despite growing alarm and international criticism, including from President Barack Obama and human rights watchdogs, the controversial Duterte has said he won’t stop the campaign. He has said that killing drug suspects is lawful if police act in self-defense and urged citizens with guns to shoot and kill drug dealers who resist arrest.

Witnesses have accused some police of gunning down people suspected of being involved in illegal drugs. Yasay, who was addressing the UN General Assembly during its annual ministerial meeting Saturday, said the government is determined to eradicate the distribution, sale and use of illegal drugs because they threaten the country’s peace and order “which, in turn, impedes our sustainable development goals.” Duterte, 71, overwhelmingly won election in May on the ambitious promise of eradicating corruption and crime, particularly illegal drugs, in six months. He recently said he underestimated the magnitude of the drug problem and will extend the crackdown by another half year.

Crime
Duterte said this week he will invite the UN chief and European Union officials to investigate his anti-drug effort, but only if he can question them in public afterward to prove their human rights concerns are baseless. He disclosed the offer in a speech Thursday in the Philippines in which he again lashed out at critics of his crackdown, including Obama. He accused them of hypocrisy for raising concerns about his anti-crime fight while launching military strikes that have killed innocent people in the Middle East. Yasay acknowledged the scrutiny that the drugs crackdown has evoked from the international community. “We urge everyone to allow us to deal with our domestic challenges in order to achieve our national goals, without undue interference,” he said.

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