Global rights group raises skepticism over Philippine panel to probe media killings
THE Human Rights Watch (HRW) has expressed doubt that the panel formed this week by the Philippine government to look into the string of unsolved murders of Filipino journalists would carry out an impartial probe into the cases.
In a statement, the international rights group’s Asia division deputy director Phelim Kine noted that the panel is being established at a time when the Southeast Asian nation is in the spotlight for the thousands of extrajudicial killings that have occurred under President Rodrigo Duterte’s watch.
“The government has consistently refused to investigate the circumstances of those deaths, which include an estimated 1,323 killings by police of suspected ‘drug pushers and users’ as well as 1,067 killings linked to ‘unidentified gunmen’ between July 1 and Sept 30.
“Instead, Duterte has praised the killings as proof of the ‘success’ of the anti-drug campaign and urged police to ‘seize the momentum’,” Kine said.
However, the rights advocate said the formation of the panel, dubbed the “Presidential Task Force on Violations of the Right to Life, Liberty and Security of the Members of the Media”, is a step in the right direction for the Philippines.
He said an investigation into the unsolved murders of Filipino journalists is sorely needed, especially as data shows that of the 172 cases filed in court so far, only 14 cases have ended in convictions.
Journalists and journalism students light candles in honor of at least 18 massacred journalists during a rally in 2009 at Manila’s Quezon city in the Philippines. Pic: AP.
Kine noted that Duterte’s predecessor, Benigno Aquino III had vowed to put a stop to the killings and to prosecute the culprits. Despite this pledge, at least 30 journalists were killed while he was in office between 2010 and 2016. During the same period, police have recorded only one successful prosecution.
“But,” he added, “journalists have reason to be skeptical about the integrity of a Duterte government inquiry.
“Not just because Duterte has himself justified the ‘assassination” of journalists he deems ‘corrupt’, but also because the government has been cheerleading killings without consequence in its so-called ‘war on drugs’,” Kine said.
He also raised questions over the composition of the new task force, noting that it will be led by Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II, who he noted has in the past defended the president’s crackdown on the narcotics trade.
Aguirre has also issued remarks to justify Duterte’s methods, saying: “Desperate times call for desperate measures. So this is what the president is doing and we support it.”
“The Philippines’ growing ranks of victims of extrajudicial killings deserve justice. But unless official attitudes shift 180 degrees, there’s no reason to believe the Duterte government will provide it anytime soon,” Kine said.
According to Rappler, Duterte signed an administrative order to create the task force on Thursday. The task force is given the duty of “ensuring a safe environment for media workers”, the report said, quoting Communications Secretary Martin Andanar, who will be co-chairing the panel with Aguirre.
It said the order signed by Duterte recognizes that the Philippines is deemed among the most dangerous places in the world for journalists.
The Committee to Protect Journalists, a New York-based watchdog, ranked the Philippines the fourth worst country in the world in 2015 in terms of unsolved killings, Rappler noted. The watchdog also estimates that between 1992 and 2016, a total of 133 journalists and media workers were murdered, 77 cases with confirmed motives, two of media workers and 54 with motives unconfirmed.
