MANILA (UPDATED 6:59 PM) – Agnès S. Callamard, the UN’s Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, on Monday said she found regrettable President Rodrigo Duterte’s expletive-laden response to her mere condoling with the family of schoolboy Kian Lloyd delos Santos.
Callamard reminded Duterte that the Philippines’ international obligations and rule of law require it to ensure “all unlawful deaths at the hands of the Police are independently, impartially, effectively, and promptly investigated.”
She also confirmed – as if in response to Duterte’s challenge for her to see for herself what’s going on – her “keen interest and commitment to undertake an official visit to the Philippines.”
In a Facebook post, Callamard said: “I regret President Duterte’s response to my condolences to Kian Lloyd delos Santos’ family. Kian and others like him deserve dignity and justice. His family and families like his demand our respect and empathy. Not expletives.”
Earlier on Monday, Duterte had blurted out in a speech, referring to Callamard, “‘Tang ina nya, sabihin mo ‘wag nya ako takutin. Putang ina nya, gago pala sya. Papuntahin mo sya dito, andito ba? Tingnan mo sitwasyon [Tell that S.O.B not to scare me. She’s stupid. Let her come here. Is she here. Let her see the situation here]. Don’t ever give me that kind of shit.”
He was reacting to Callamard’s earlier comment that she hoped delos Santos will be the last victim of such needless deaths in a war on drugs she had repeatedly criticized as having been proven ineffective for its inordinate focus on neutralizing drug suspects.
Duterte had said Callamard, being from France, had no idea about he context of the drug problem in the Philippines and should simply shut up.
In her reaction to Duterte’s expletives on Monday, Callamard also supported the Philippine Senate inquiry into Kian’s death and into police killings in the context of the “war on drugs.” She expressed the hope it would “shed an independent and impartial light over repeated allegations of extra-judicial executions by the Philippines Police.” That way, she said, “it will contribute to lifting the blanket of silence and addressing the climate of fear and the regime of impunity that have also characterized the ‘war on drugs.'”
Callamard welcomed as well the filing of murder charges against the three Caloocan police officers involved in the killing of the 17-year-old delos Santos, whom they claimed had shot at them while they were conducting a sweep of drug suspects in his neighborhood. However, witnesses and CCTV footage showed two of the cops dragging away delos Santos, unarmed, to a spot past a basketball court, near an old pigsty where he was eventually shot.
A police autopsy and forensic findings by the Public Attorney’s Office later indicated the schoolboy was kneeling when shot, and all bullets were fired from behind, two landing in his head.
According to Callamard, the investigation “is a first and crucial step towards ensuring accountability for Kian’s unlawful death and ending impunity for all similar deaths.”
“Kian and others like him deserve dignity and justice. His family and families like his demand our respect and empathy. Not expletives,” Callamard said.
“I welcome the Philippines Senate inquiry into Kian’s death and into police killings in the context of the ‘war on drugs.’ May it shed an independent and impartial light over repeated allegations of extra-judicial executions by the Philippines Police,” she added.
“By so doing, it will contribute to lifting the blanket of silence and addressing the climate of fear and the regime of impunity that have also characterized the war on drugs.
“I welcome, too, the filing of murder charges against the Police officers involved in the killing of Kian Lyod delos Santos. This is a first and crucial step towards ensuring accountability for Kian’s unlawful death and ending impunity for all similar deaths.
“As I have repeatedly emphasized, the duty of the State to investigate is central to upholding the right to life. Such a duty is heightened in situations involving State actors: all killings involving State actors such as the Police, must be independently and promptly investigated to determine whether the use of lethal force was necessary and proportionate.
“States must also provide redress and reparations and ensure that no person acts with impunity. Failure to do so amounts to a distinct violation of the right to life under international human rights standards.
“In this regard, I call on the President of the Philippines and the Justice Secretary to uphold the Philippines international obligations, and the rule of law by ensuring that all unlawful deaths at the hands of the Police are independently, impartially, effectively, and promptly investigated.”
Callamard confirmed as well her “keen interest and commitment” to undertake an official visit to the Philippines.
Click and watch a video clip of President Duterte’s reaction to Callamard’s remarks:
