The United States said Thursday it was troubled by the growing number of extrajudicial killings in Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s war on drugs and called on Manila to stick to its commitment to investigate them. Close to 9,000 people, mostly drug users and small-time dealers, have been killed since Duterte took office almost 10 months ago and promised an unrelenting campaign to rid the Philippines of illicit narcotics. Police say about a third of the victims were shot by officers in self-defense. Human rights groups believe many of the remaining two-thirds were killed by paid assassins cooperating with the police or by police themselves, disguised as vigilantes. The government and police reject that. Patrick Murphy, the U.S. deputy assistant secretary of state for Southeast Asia, said the United States shared Manila’s objective of eliminating the scourge of illicit drugs and wanted to help. “We, however, do have a very sustained and deep concern when elements of the drug war are operating outside the rule of law,” Murphy told reporters. “The growing number of extrajudicial killings is troubling.” Rights advocates were concerned when U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson sidestepped questions about extrajudicial killings in the Philippines during his January confirmation… Read full this story
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