[Al Jazeera] Human rights groups and indigenous activists have accused Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte of inciting the military to commit war crimes after he offered a $384 bounty for each communist rebel killed.
Duterte's "incendiary rhetoric" encourages violations of conventions on armed conflicts, Carlos H Conde of Human Rights Watch, said in a statement to Al Jazeera on Thursday.
"Duterte's pronouncements normalise the idea that government security forces can do as they wish to defeat their enemies - including committing summary executions," said Conde.
Last week, Duterte said he would train indigenous people, or lumads, to become paramilitary fighters and pay them 20,000 pesos ($384) for each communist rebel they kill in their communities in the southern island of Mindanao.
"You want money? I'll give you money," he said. "I will make it 20,000 pesos per head."
The controversial comments followed an earlier report quoting Duterte as telling the military to shoot female communist rebels in the genitals, to make them "useless".
|
