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Tag: Philippines drug war

  • Toddler Is The Latest Victim Of Philippines’ Violent Drug War

    Toddler Is The Latest Victim Of Philippines’ Violent Drug War

    According to child rights groups in the Philippines, more than 100 children have died since June 2016.

    The Philippines’ violent campaign against drugs continues to claim innocent lives—the latest, a 3-year-old girl named Myka Ulpina.

    Human Rights Watch reports that Myka died on Sunday (June 30) after being shot during a police raid targeting her father. The police, who have a reputation for lying, claimed that her father used Myka as a “shield” during the raid.

    Thousands Have Lost Their Lives 

    Myka’s death is a grim reminder that authorities enforcing the “war on drugs” in the Philippines—launched by President Rodrigo Duterte in June 2016 upon his taking office—are still carrying out violent attacks on poor and urban Filipinos.

    Authorities have admitted to 6,600 killings thus far—but others estimate this number may reach 27,000.

    According to child rights groups in the Philippines, more than 100 children have died since June 2016. They include the deaths of 4-year-old Skyler Abatayo in July 2018 and 5-year-old Danica May Garcia in August 2016—both which have been condemned by UNICEF, the United Nations children’s agency.

    The death of 17-year-old Kian delos Santos, who was killed by police in August 2017, marked the only time that police officers have been convicted of murdering a drug war victim.

    The Drug War Affects Everyone

    Human Rights Watch notes, the impact of the government’s violent drug war has a much greater reach than is reported. “The toll of the Philippines’ ‘drug war’ does not end with the killing of a drug suspect, but may extend to their children, often completely destroying families,” said Philippines researcher Carlos Conde.

    The trauma of living in this environment, witnessing deaths and the economic toll of losing family members affect children as well.

    Human Rights Watch is calling on the UN Human Rights Council to adopt a resolution “that urges the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to report on the ‘drug war’ killings and other human rights violations in the Philippines.” The organization says that it would only be a “modest first step” but has the potential to make significant progress toward stopping the “carnage” in the Philippines.

    To learn more about the impact of the drug war on Filipino children, check out the Human Rights Watch report: Collateral Damage: The Children of Duterte’s ‘War on Drugs’ by Carlos Conde.

    View the original article at thefix.com

  • Bangladesh Drug War Claims Hundreds Of Lives

    Bangladesh Drug War Claims Hundreds Of Lives

    Since May, It is estimated that more than 200 people have been killed and 25,000 more imprisoned in the country.

    The violent anti-drugs campaign in Bangladesh has claimed more than 200 lives, according to human rights advocates. 

    “It is unprecedented in Bangladesh. So many people have been killed in such a short period of time,” Sheepa Hafiza, executive director of Ain o Salish Kendra, told Agence France-Presse (AFP). 

    The group estimates that more than 200 people have been killed, with 25,000 more imprisoned, in Bangladesh since May, when Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina launched the “war on drugs.” While the authorities deny wrongdoing, reports of “cold-blooded murders by police and the elite security force” surfaced at that time, Deutsche Welle reported. 

    Due to the violent and aggressive nature of the anti-drugs campaign, it is being likened to the drug war in the Philippines, launched by President Rodrigo Duterte in 2016. 

    “This is very unfortunate. We condemn these extrajudicial killings and want fair investigations into each of these killings,” Hafiza told AFP.

    A former chairman of Bangladesh’s National Human Rights Commission, Mizanur Rahman, also condemned the government’s actions. 

    “By killing suspects during raids, the security forces are violating the country’s legal system,” Rahman said, according to Deutsche Welle. “Extrajudicial killings are unacceptable in a democratic country. The authorities must respect human rights and respect the rule of law during their operations.” 

    According to TIME, Bangladesh is not the only country that appears to be taking cues from the Philippines. Just this month, Sri Lankan President Maithripala Sirisena announced that after a 40-plus year moratorium, the country will resume giving out death sentences for drug offenders.

    “From now on, we will hang drug offenders without commuting their death sentences,” said Sirisena. 

    “We were told that the Philippines has been successful in deploying the army and dealing with this problem. We will try to replicate their success,” said a spokesman for the president, Rajitha Senaratne.

    The last time Sri Lanka applied the death penalty was in 1976, according to the Guardian. According to Senaratne, this decision applies to 19 drug offenders whose death sentences had previously been commuted to a life sentence; they will now face execution.

    Human Rights Watch estimates that the Philippines drug war has claimed at least 12,000 lives since 2016, primarily of “poor urban dwellers, including children.” 

    Prior to his election, then-presidential candidate Rodrigo Duterte had promised to kill 100,000 criminals in the first six months of his presidency. He has encouraged violent anti-drugs enforcement and praised mass killings of drug suspects.

    View the original article at thefix.com