DAVAO CITY, Philippines鈥擲ummary executions of crime suspects are a common practice in the Philippines, according to the US-based Human Rights Watch.
鈥淪ummary killings of suspected criminals are not new to the Philippines,鈥� Human Rights Watch said in a 71-page report that tagged Reynaldo Uy, former Tagum mayor, as one of those responsible for the killing of nearly 300 crime suspects in the city from 2007 to 2013.
Uy denied the accusations in the report 鈥淥ne Shot to the Head: Death Squad Killings in Tagum City, Philippines,鈥� saying they were based on testimony coerced and paid for by drug dealers and illegal gamblers.
But Phelim Kine, Human Rights Watch deputy Asia director, said in a statement that accompanied the release of the report on Wednesday that there was 鈥渃ompelling evidence鈥� against Uy, who reportedly called the targets鈥攕uspected drug dealers, petty criminals, street children and others 鈥斺�渨eeds鈥� that had to be uprooted in a 鈥減erverse form of crime control.鈥�
The New York-based international rights group said summary killing had been the tactic used by other officials, like Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte and former Manila Mayor Alfredo Lim.
Citing its 2009 report 鈥淵ou Can Die Anytime: Death Squad Killings in Mindanao,鈥� Human Rights Watch said Duterte鈥檚 鈥渙pen endorsement of summary killings to fight criminals and his soaring popularity have encouraged other cities,鈥� including Tagum.
In 2009, the rights group said 鈥渞eports of similar killings in other Philippine cities suggest that the Davao Death Squad 鈥� has motivated other town officials to adopt extrajudicial killings as a crime control method.鈥�
The report said Duterte and Lim got away with extrajudicial killings.
鈥淒uterte鈥檚 popularity, built on his seeming willingness to engage in unlawful violence to eliminate common crime, a serious problem in many urban areas in the Philippines, has an appeal that extends far beyond Davao City,鈥� the report said.