On Sunday, Trump also extended a White House invitation to Thailand Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, a former general who heads a military government that took power in a 2014 coup. “Celebrating a man who boasts of killing his own citizens and inviting him to the White House, while remaining silent on his disgusting human rights record, sends a terrifying message,” said John Sifton, the Asia director of Human Rights Watch. But taking a swipe at Trump for his invitation to Duterte, Democratic US Senator Chris Murphy tweeted: “We are watching in real time as the American human rights bully pulpit disintegrates into ash." Human rights groups say official accounts are implausible and accuse Duterte of backing campaign of systematic extrajudicial killings by police. In a summary of Saturday’s phone call between the two leaders, the White House said the two discussed “the fact that the Philippine government is fighting very hard to rid its country of drugs, a scourge that affects many countries throughout the world.” The White House statement included no criticism of Duterte’s methods.

Source: Egypt Independent May 01, 2017 00:00 UTC