President Rodrigo Duterte’s declaration of a “war on drugs” has made the Philippines the fourth most dangerous place in the world for civilian-targeted violence, according to a report that places the country behind conflict-ridden Yemen.
The report by the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (Acled) identifies India as the most dangerous country, with 1,385 violent events that targeted civilians. Second place is Syria with 1,160, followed by Yemen with 500, and the Philippines with 345. It supports comments made recently by Michelle Bachelet, UN high commissioner for human rights, who voiced concerns over ongoing human rights abuses in the Philippines and the “extraordinarily high number of deaths – and persistent reports of extrajudicial killings – in the context of campaigns against drug use”.
On Monday Amnesty accused Duterte of carrying out a “large-scale murdering enterprise”, and said he should be investigated by the UN for crimes against humanity.
The confirmed death toll of suspects killed in anti-drugs operations currently stands at 5,425 since July 2016, something that Bachelet described as “a matter of most serious concern for any country”.
“Acled’s findings are consistent with our findings and are an affirmation of the need for the international community, the UN Human Rights Council and the International Criminal Court to take action,” said Carlos Conde, Philippines researcher for Human Rights Watch.
The statistics reveal that efforts to clean up the Philippines have resulted in more than 450 direct anti-civilian violent attacks, causing 490 deaths since January 2019. The most targeted regions are Central Luzon and Calabarzon, which accounted for 23% and 22% of fatalities, respectively. The National Capital Region, which includes the capital Manila, reported 10% of the fatalities.
Political officer at the Philippine embassy in London, Kristine Salle, dismissed the claims, stating: “The suggestion that the Philippines is the fourth most dangerous country in the world is not only unfair, but also false, considering that there are probably more dangerous places in the world.”
Statistics suggest that Duterte’s strategy may not be totally to blame for the country’s fourth place ranking. The government is said to have carried out 60% of civilian-targeted events since the start of 2019. Unidentified or anonymous armed groups are deemed responsible for 27% and anti-drug vigilantes for 8%.
But for the man who came to power vowing to clean up the nation’s troubles, Duterte’s use of force in the “war on drugs” now appears to be building towards a legacy of political violence. Statistics reveal that extrajudicial killings, to which Duterte has admitted giving his “sinful” support , have continued year on year since his reign began in 2016 and continues to rise in 2019 with two-thirds of all political violence focused against civilians.
In respect of targeted attacks, state forces continue to be the “primary perpetrators”, with drug suspects accounting for almost 360 reported civilian deaths so far this year, 75% of the total number.
The killing of 90 former and current government officials accounted for 18% of reported fatalities in the same period, and the report claims that such victims tend to be targeted by unidentified armed groups motivated by political rivalry. Twenty of these officials were labelled as drug suspects. There was also a notable increase in attacks during May’s midterm elections with members of political parties, leftist organisations, land activists, farmers, lawyers and judges all targeted.
“The killings in the context of the ‘drug war’ are targeting the most vulnerable section of the Philippines’ population – the urban poor, the most marginalised and voiceless people with least access to justice and redress,” said Conte.
Responding to the Acled findings, Salle provided official statistics on the campaign showing that from July 2016 to 30 April 2019, 129,500 anti-drug operations resulted in 1.3m seizures, 185,401 arrests and 5,425 drug suspects killed during operations.
number of drug seizures
“The Philippine leadership is serious in ensuring zero tolerance for abuses and human rights violations by state actors. The Philippine National Police’s (PNP) clear-up rate has improved by 20% between 2015 and 2018. It is intensifying efforts to cleanse its ranks of erring personnel,” said Salle, referring to 655 government workers arrested over corruption, including 305 government employees, 274 elected officials and 75 uniformed personnel.
All arrests relating to the campaign are subject to investigation, but where suspects have been killed, she said, the PNP have conducted 4,583 investigations of which 3,619 have been recommended for disciplinary proceedings hearings, 352 are undergoing pre-charge investigation and 588 have been closed. The PNP have also reported that there are 14,724 complaints of misconduct filed against PNP officers and personnel.
anti-drug operations graphic
Stressing that the anti-drug campaign had “significantly improved” the peace and stability of the Philippines, Salle said the strategy had reduced crime by 30% since Duterte came to power, making streets and communities safer. To improve transparency, the government publishes results on social mediawith the hashtag #RealNumbersPH.
“The Philippines has a long tradition of human rights and is a signatory to eight core human rights treaties. It has therefore committed to respect, protect, and fulfil its human rights treaty obligations,” she said.
“The anti-drug campaign has a strong public health dimension, which has prioritised community health services supported by investment of $120m (£95m), to be used for prevention, education, early detection, intervention, voluntary treatment and rehabilitation.
“It is unfortunate that the development and human rights-oriented dimensions of the campaign have been overlooked by media coverage which has been overly focused on the law enforcement aspects and a number of sensational cases,” said Salle.
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