Stop the bloodshed, human rights defenders tell Duterte
July 14, 2016 - The Citizen’s Council for Human Rights (CCHR) today asked President Rodrigo Duterte to initiate measures that will halt the surge of extrajudicial killings of suspected criminals and drug offenders. The group also called for the investigation and prosecution of persons responsible for human rights violations committed in the course of the war on drugs.
In a press statement, CCHR said that the President’s campaign for peace and order has resulted in an alarming rise in killings, which has already claimed 251 lives between May 10 and July 13. According to Max de Mesa, chair of the Philippine Alliance of Human Rights Advocates (PAHRA) and convenor of CCHR, the arbitrary killing of suspected offenders violates the right to due process and denies citizens the right to a fair trial.