The Special Committee on Human Rights Coordination formed by President Marcos will also be looking into alleged abuses, including reported extra-judicial killings (EJKs), committed during past anti-illegal drugs operations, the Department of Justice (DOJ) said on Tuesday, May 14.
DOJ Undersecretary Raul T. Vasquez said, during an interview on PTV’s Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon, “kasama ‘yan sa mandato n’ya na ireview ‘yung lahat ng mga kasong pending tungkol sa drugs (it is part of its mandate to review pending cases related to illegal drugs).”
“Kaya iniisip namin na talagang reviewhin ‘yung lahat ng mga bagay na ‘to, saliksikin, titingnan kung ano ba talaga ‘yung tunay na numero, kung meron bang ebidensya, at kung ‘yung isang pagpaslang ay ‘yan ba ay EJK o ‘yan ba lehitimong pagpaslang in the performance of duly constituted authorities in their sworn duties to uphold the law (That is why we are eyeing to conduct a review, research, determine the actual numbers, detemine if there are any evidence, and find if a killing is an EJK or was a legitimate performance by duly constituted authorities in their sworn duties to uphold the law),” he said.
“Marami kasing nagsasabi na komo may namatay extra-judicial killing. Hindi. (Many are saying that if someone died it is considered extra-judicial killing. It is not),” Vasquez stressed.
On the other hand, Vasquez clarified that the special committee is not doing this due to ongoing investigation being conducted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) over EJKs committed during the administration of former President Rodrigo Duterte.
“Isa sa mga madato n’ya is to approach the drugs problem under a human rights prism at para titingnan rin ‘yung aspeto nito patungkol sa torture, patungkol sa other human rights violations (One of its mandates is to approach the drugs problem under a human rights prism and to look at aspects concerning torture and other human rights violations),” he explained.
“So ang magiging objectibo nito ay para sa future applications to make sure ‘yung compliance natin sa human rights sa law enforcement, sa criminal justice and sa lahat ng polisiya ng ating gobyerno (So the objective is for future applications and to make sure human rights compliance among law enforcement, in criminal justice, and all policies of the government),” he added.
The special committee was created under Administrative Order (AO) No. 22 that was signed by Executive Secretary Lucas P. Bersamin on May 8.
Bersamin chairs the committee with the DOJ as co-chair. It includes as members the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) and the Department of the Intrerior and Local Government (DILG).
Prior to the creation of the committee, Vasquez explained that the government has been guided by the United Nations Joint Programme (UNJP) on Human Rights which is set to expire this July 31.
“Gusto ng ating gobyerno na we (The government wanted to) have to gain ownership and control of the programs on human rights promotion and protection,” Vasquez said on the creation of the special committee.
“Dapat makawala na tayo sa bigkis ng guidance ng United Nations (We should free ourselves from this UN guidance),” he added.
Under the UNJP, Vasquez noted that “karamihan naman mga programa natin ang pinagpatuloy (most of the programs are programs that we already have).”
“It provided a vehicle or platform whereby human rights promotions and protection are discussed openly and actively by all stakeholders, and the monitoring of the implementation, and, finally, the monitoring would require the application of accountabiity mechanisms if there would be violations by any stakeholder,” he said.
Unlike the UNJP, Vasquez said the special committee allows the inclusion of other government agencies from the five pillars of the criminal justice system, namely: law enforcement, prosecution, judiciary, corrections, and the community.