The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) has released its final report on investigated killings related to the government’s anti-illegal drug campaign.
The CHR said the report was completed by its EJK Task Force.
Executive director and spokesperson Jacqueline Ann de Guia said the concluding report is a more comprehensive and expansive version of the initial report released last November 2021, and that the findings of the final report extended its scope from the previous analysis covering only incidents investigated in Region III, Region IV-A, and the National Capital Region.
She said the scope of the April 2022 release is nationwide and covers 882 dockets involving a total of 872 incidents with 1,139 victims, “almost double in terms of the scope in the initial report.”
Unlike the initial report which included cases under investigation, the cases discussed in the concluding report were those that had already been investigated and resolved, she added.
“We stress that the comprehensive report also took into account law enforcers or police killed (pages 6-8) as well as killings by unidentified individuals outside of the context of police operations (pages 24-26),” De Guia said.
“This is contrary to claims that there was no mention of law enforcers who lost their lives and of killings outside of police operations,” she noted.
According to De Guia, the final report “serves to bolster the initial findings of the Commission: that there is a consistent narrative by law enforcers alleging victims initiated aggression or resisted arrest (nanlaban); that there is use of excessive and disproportionate force; that targeted victims were mostly civilians killed in uninhabited locations sustaining gunshot wounds in the heads and/or torso; that there is non-cooperation by the police; and that there is a lack of effective, prompt, and transparent accountability mechanism to address the drug-related killings.”
She said the report has also already been formally communicated to the concerned government agencies, such as the Presidential Human Rights Committee and the Department of Justice.
“We are heartened by the remarks of Acting Presidential Spokesperson Secretary Martin Andanar, which acknowledged the CHR’s independence and invited us to coordinate with concerned government agencies,” she noted.
De Guia said the commission is optimistic that such would signal greater cooperation and enhanced response of the government in bringing full justice to all alleged EJK cases linked to the anti-drug campaign.
“CHR is hopeful of the government’s openness to ascertain justice. We reiterate our continued support and commitment to the government in the pursuit of truth and accountability,” she said.
She welcomed constructive engagements among the different branches of the government, particularly if it involves independent bodies like CHR, manifest an adherence to the check and balance mechanisms within the government.