Media Quote
Responding to President Duterte’s statement during his press conference on 2 August, saying that he and his family do not benefit from unlawful killings under the war on drugs, Butch Olano, Amnesty International Philippines Section Director said:
“Reports from human rights groups are not merely based on suspicion but facts from research with evidence that police killings are driven by pressures from the top, including financial incentives for police who kill people allegedly involved with the drugs trade.
“The government has a duty to actively protect the rights of its citizens, whether from drug-related violence, those perpetrated by the police or government forces or vigilante groups. Instead of condemning all unlawful killings and calling on law enforcement officials to abide by international law on the use of force, President Duterte is positing himself as the victim because he nor his family did not benefit from his bloody drug war.
No one benefits from murder – children who are orphaned due to the war on drugs certainly do not benefit from this insatiable and vicious system.
Butch Olano, Section Director
“No one benefits from murder – children who are orphaned due to the war on drugs certainly do not benefit from this insatiable and vicious system. Families of victims, witnesses, lawyers, religious leaders, and others repeatedly expressed their despair at the obstacles stopping them from seeking justice, and the total climate of impunity within the country.
“Amnesty International Philippines is challenging this government to give in detail the benefits that we, as a nation, have sown from the multitudes of killings and violence because when crimes against humanity are committed, the entire nation loses. We urge President Duterte not to evade the issues of human rights violations established in the report of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court by changing the topic to whom has benefited. The President, instead, must commit to cooperate with future investigations by International bodies such as the ICC and UNHRC.”