The government has repeatedly rejected allegations that police have executed drug users and dealers and say victims’ families can file legal cases against police. In three-quarters of incidents, those killed were on “watch lists” of people in communities with suspected use or involvement in drugs, Amnesty found. It said the other incidents pointed broadly to previous patterns of executions, but it could not obtain sufficient evidence and information to be certain. The police narrative that undercover officers posing as drug buyers had killed only in self defense “doesn’t meet the feeblest standards of credibility,” Amnesty concluded. Duterte’s spokesman Salvador Panelo was not immediately aware of the report when contacted on Monday and gave no initial comment.

Source: National Post July 08, 2019 04:18 UTC