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| President Rodrigo Duterte |
According to USA Today report, In such a short period of time “he has left a bloody trail of drug world executions that is drawing alarm from human rights groups and opposition politicians.”
Since the inauguration on June 30, 72 alleged drug dealers were already killed by the police force and vigilante groups, Dating back to Duterte’s election victory on May 10 , the total of the death toll rises to 119.
Last weekend, police officials reported nine more killings, including an unidentified man with a cardboard sign on his torso “I Am a Pusher”.
Human rights lawyer and national chairman of the Free Legal Assistance Group, called this series of killings “a nuclear explosion of violence”.
“Do we really want to give the man with the gun the power to judge who are criminals and to kill them? To decide who is bad and who is good, who deserves to live and who deserves to die?” USA Today quoted him as saying.
The killings has also drawn the attention of the International rights groups “Human Rights Watch is concerned that President Duterte’s electoral platform, which included repeated promises to kill those deemed to be criminals and drug dealers, may be interpreted by some as a legitimization of the unlawful concept of extrajudicial killings as an acceptable approach to crime control,” said Phelim Kine, the group’s Asia deputy director.
“Not only does each case need to be investigated, but it’s crucial there be an inquiry into the surge in killings since June 30 and action taken to put an end to it.” he added.
