(Eagle News)–With Bato dela Rosa getting closer to winning a seat in the Senate, Human Rights Watch called on the International Criminal Court to investigate him for his alleged crimes when he was police chief.
In a statement, Carlos Conde of the HRW’s Asia division, said although the Philippines has officially withdrawn from the ICC, it can still probe “killings during the anti-drug campaign, can still investigate alleged crimes against humanity that occurred while Dela Rosa was police chief, and any other crimes ‘occuring in the future’ in the context of the same situation.”
He said Dela Rosa led the drug war initiated by then-President Rodrigo Duterte and “presided over a Philippine National Police that routinely shot and killed drug suspects, claiming without proof they resisted arrest.”
According to Conde, “investigations by rights groups, including (HRW) and the media found numerous instances in which the police planted weapons and drugs on victims to cover-up the killings.”
“The police say that over three years they killed about 5,300 drug suspects who fought back, an unverified claim that also ignores the role of police-backed vigilantes responsible for many more ‘drug war’ killings. The governmental Commission on Human Rights estimates that more than 27,000 have died in the ‘drug war’ – a number that grows daily as killing extend from Metro Manila to other urban areas,” he said.
Dela Rosa, Conde said, was also as “vociferous in carrying out and defending the ‘drug war’ brutality as Duterte was in justifying it.”
He said it was Dela Rosa who said that “if many believe that the number of drug addicts has gone down then somehow we are successful.”
“Dela Rosa may still have a date with justice. The Duterte government has shown it won’t carry out necessary investigations, but the (ICC) could,” Conde said.
“Now that Dela Rosa (will be) a policymaker, there is renewed urgency in bringing all those responsible for ‘drug war’ crimes to justice,” he added.