Human Rights situation has further deteriorated during the pandemic

29. January 2021 | "War on Drugs", Human Rights News

After four years of enormous efforts the Philippine Commission of Human rights (CHR) has finally been granted access to nearly 2000 files of killings caused by state security forces through the “War on drugs”. These files merely account for 24% of the total number of 7884 extrajudicial killings documented by the police (PNP). Not included in this number are the so-called vigilante killings which are estimated by Human Rights groups and the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) to be at least 27.000. Of the 1.983 killings (as of September 2020) reported in the files which were granted to the CHR, only 67 have been further investigated by the government and only 10 have been presented at court.
The Human Rights Watch Report 2021 that was published on January 13, 2021 highlights that the human rights situation in the Philippines has further deteriorated during the pandemic. Extrajudicial killings have risen dramatically whilst there is a nearly complete impunity for the perpetrators. Phil Robertson from Human Rights Watch said, it seemed the government is taking advantage of the COVID 19 regulations in order to further extend their war on drugs. Government files prove that at least 5980 people lost their lives due to anti-drug operations by the police as of November 2020.

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