Despite the word war that happened between President Rodrigo Duterte and the United Nations, an article claimed that the UN still endorsed the extrajudicial killings in the Philippines.
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It was shared by Facebook page “I Love Philippines.” The article also came from a blog called te1egraph.com. See the “1” in the website name?
While the article was first shared in September 2016, it still caught our attention because it managed to rack up to 293 shares and 1,500 mixed reactions of likes, love, and wows from the netizens.
But when we clicked on the link, we found out that the page was already taken down.
What we did was search for other blogs that are still carrying the article and we found one. The blog usa-television.com published the article with the same title “BREAKING: The United Nations Endorses Philippines’ Extrajudicial Killings.”
The UN has allegedly supported Duterte after raining criticisms on the Philippine president for his war on drugs. The article claimed that the organization changed its mind towards Duterte after failing in its own drug war, leading it to support any individual or country that are still fighting it.
“We support him (Duterte) fully and would provide any assistance should he be in need,” the article said.
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The article then went on to describe the result of Duterte’s war on drugs – lifeless bodies found on Philippine streets, over 1,900 people dead (data by September last year), 700 of which were killed in legitimate police operations since Duterte was sworn in last June 2016. Unsolved cases may be mostly committed by vigilantes.
However, this claim is a lie. UN never endorsed the killings related to the drug war in the Philippines. In fact, the international organization condemned strongly.
On October 11, 2016, the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights recommended to the Philippines to stop EJK, along other human rights topics such as the plight of indigenous people and labor.
“The Committee urges the State to stop and prevent extrajudicial killings and any form of violence against drug users; to promptly and thoroughly investigate all reported cases and punish the perpetrators with sanctions commensurate with the gravity of the crime; and to take all necessary measures to ensure that the fight against drug trafficking does not have a discriminatory impact on the poor and marginalized,” the committee said.
UN special rapporteur on EJK Agnes Callamard was set to come to the Philippines in 2017, but it was cancelled after Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto Yasay Jr. said that the rapporteurs cannot come unless they follow the conditions set by President Duterte regarding their visit to the country.
Sources: (rappler.com, news.abs-cbn.com)
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