CHR Commissioner Karen Dumpit said the PNP is not cooperating in the investigation on human rights abuses related to the anti-drug war.
“I have been in the CHR for 27 years, and never could I remember such non-cooperation experienced by the CHR until this Duterte administration,” said CHR Commissioner Karen Dumpit in a Dobol B sa News TV interview.
“Kahit kaunting cooperation sa kapulisan when we request for information, iyong mga regional officers po namin, they always mention that the police does not cooperate, they say they need to ask permission from higher-ups. Kapag nakikipagdayalogo kami, ayaw nila,” she added.
Dumpit made the statement a day after Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra announced an inter-agency panel that would review thousands of police anti-illegal drug operations, which resulted in deaths before the UN Human Rights Council was established. CHR would serve as an independent monitoring body of the said panel.
“We have to wait and see if they will engage with us,” Dumpit said of the police force.
Dumpit welcomed the Justice Secretary’s statement but with reservations, citing the CHR’s experience with the Duterte administration.
“Definitely, it is a good development. Pero iba ang sinasabi, iba iyong ginagawa. Near impunity nga tayo sabi ng UN, at isa lang ang successful prosecution. Lagi nilang sinasabi na iyong line of dissent, CHR iyon. Pero dapat makipagtulungan sila,” she said.
“Lagi nilang sinasabi, iniimbestigahan ng Internal Affairs Service ng PNP; na wala naman silang nakitang problema kasi may presumption of regularity. Pero regular ba, in course of function ba, na palaging may namamatay sa legitimate police operations? Hindi dapat ganun dahil tungkulin ng gobyerno ay to preserve life,” Dumpit asked.
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Dumpit also lambasted the police for mostly justifying that the suspects were killed because they fought the police.
“Nanlaban sila? Bakit ang location ng wound, sa ulo? Fatal agad eh. Iyong iba, nakatali ang kamay. Yung iba naman, isa laban sa lima, kahit nasa police custody na,” she said.
The CHR Commissioner added said that being suspected of a crime should not be equal to a death sentence.
“Ang protection of the public does not only include law-abiding citizens. Tungkulin ng gobyerno to protect lives and prevent arbitrary deprivation of life o pagpatay ng ibang tao,” she said.
“Do not kill. Hindi proud moment for the government na maraming napatay na drug addicts. We can’t go through the motions. We have to show that we are doing something about it. We have to show results.”