The United Nations envoy on summary executions is expected
to begin an investigation into thousands of deaths linked to the government’s
antidrugs war by early next year, while a European Union team is to arrive this
month, an official said on Thursday.
Commission on Human Rights (CHR) head Jose Luis Martin
Gascon said the UN’s Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or
Arbitration Executions had already received the government’s invitation to
investigate the anti-drugs war, which has already left at least 4,700 people
dead as of last month.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and the United Nations
were working to finalize the dates, but Gascon said the probe would officially
start by the first quarter of 2017.
After blasting the United Nations, European Union as well as
the United States for raising concerns on his war on drugs, President Duterte
eventually relented and invited them over to investigate, on the condition they
should also be prepared to answer queries he would raise.
The DFA however earlier said the rights representatives
would likely be barred from investigating in slum areas which are considered
dangerous.
A team from the European Union is meanwhile due in the
Philippines later this month to meet with government leaders, businessmen and
economic managers to evaluate the country’s human rights, environmental and
labor conditions, Gascon said.
The European Union is expected to find out whether or not
Manila has continued its commitment to human rights and other policies as
mandated in 27 international agreements entered into by the Philippines. Of
these agreements, 10 involved human right treaties.
If the European Union determines that the country has
relaxed its commitment to human rights, Gascon said it could affect the General
System of Preference Plus (GSP Plus) mechanism which grants the Philippines
access to the European market.
“If this team assesses that there is a backsliding or fall
back in our commitment to human rights, then the GSP Plus mechanism maybe in
jeopardy,” Gascon said.
“Since we joined in 2014, there have been significant impact
in terms of our exporters and we could want this to continue,” he said.
Gascon was in Cebu to speak before a human rights gathering
attended by delegates from Myanmar, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and the
Philippines.
In a manifesto, the rights advocates said the government’s
campaign “has made the country more unsafe with innocent people killed, drug
lords evading arrest, and murder cases rising.”
“We call on the Philippine government to condemn the murder
spree, immediately solve the vigilante killings, act on the failed police
operations, and serve justice to the families of the murder victims,” they
said.
The post UN Probe of EJKs to Begin Next Year appeared first on Philippine Daily Inquirer.
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