Sunday, March 04, 2018

Duterte kills again

 
It is announced that Duterte of the Philippines has restarted a campaign of extrajudicial killings of those suspected of involvement in drugs
                                                              The Nation 4/3/2018
Most relevant to Duterte's  policy of judicial  executions is the following extract from the declaration on the 20th anniversary of the Asian Human Rights Charter by the Asian Human Rights Commission.
See especially:
 "Extrajudicial executions and enforced disappearances are constantly carried out in many countries in Asia. Such extrajudicial executions and enforced disappearances are grave crimes and cannot be allowed for any reason. In any state in which extrajudicial executions and enforced disappearances take place, the state must accept liability for such crimes and ensure immediate action be taken to investigate. On the basis of such investigations conducted by credible agencies, the culprits should be prosecuted immediately. In deciding on culprits, the issue of command responsibility should be pursued strictly. Every officer who bears direct or indirect responsibility for such grave crimes should be brought before the courts as soon as possible.

The absence of specific domestic laws relating to extrajudicial executions and enforced disappearances should not be used as an excuse to stop the investigation and prosecution of such crimes. Where no proper laws exist, the laws must be made and enforced with retrospective effect. Where such laws do not exist, they should be treated as though they do, on the basis that such acts are crimes against humanity. Where extrajudicial executions and enforced disappearances occur on a large scale, the state should bear the full liability for such crimes. These crimes likewise amount to crimes against humanity."

A Paper by the Asian Human Rights Commission
WORLD: Draft Asian Declaration on right to justice - right to an effective remedy for violations of human rights in terms of Article 2 of the ICCPR: March 5, 2018