Lawmakers this month overwhelmingly backed his plan to extend martial law there through 2018, which would be the country’s longest period of such emergency rule since the 1970s era of strongman Ferdinand Marcos. “They are suffering massive abuses of their human rights, some of which are potentially irreversible,” the pair said in a statement late on Wednesday. “We fear the situation could deteriorate further if the extension of martial law until the end of 2018 results in even greater militarisation.”The Philippines was obliged by international law to protect indigenous peoples and ensure human rights abuses were halted and prosecuted. A spokesman for Duterte said the martial law extension was needed “to quell the remaining terrorists who brought destruction to Marawi and its neighboring communities”. Police deny allegations by human rights advocates that many of the killings were executions.

Source: The Express Tribune December 28, 2017 09:22 UTC