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| Southeast Asia |
| Duterte: Philippines might leave UN over criticism of drug trafficker killings |
| 2016-08-22 |
| The Philippines president, Rodrigo Duterte, railed against the United Nations on Sunday after it called for an end to the wave of killings unleashed by his war on drugs, saying he might leave the organisation and invite China and others to form a new one. Two UN human rights experts last week urged Manila to stop the extra-judicial executions and killings that have escalated since Duterte won the presidency on a promise to wipe out drugs. About 900 suspected drug traffickers have been killed since he came to power after winning the election on 9 May. Duterte on Friday denied that the government was responsible and in a middle-of-the-night news conference in his home town, Davao, said the deaths were not the work of the police and invited UN experts to investigate themselves. The news conference was broadcast by local media and the full version was posted on Facebook by GMA news. “I will prove to the world that you are a very stupid expert,” he said, urging them to count not just the number of drug-related deaths but also the innocent lives lost to drugs. He then launched an attack on the United Nations and its members – including by inference Manila’s traditionally close ally, Washington – saying it could not fulfil its own mandate but was “worrying about the bones of criminals piling up”. “I do not want to insult you. But maybe we’ll just have to decide to separate from the United Nations,” he said. “Why do you have to listen to this stupid?” Criticising the UN for not doing enough to address hunger and terrorism and for not being able to do anything about Syria and Iraq and allowing big powers to bomb villages and kill innocent civilians, he said he would invite China and African nations to form another global organisation. “You now, United Nations, if you can say one bad thing about me, I can give you 10 [about you]. I tell you, you are an inutile. Because if you are really true to your mandate, you could have stopped all these wars and killing.” Asked about the possible consequences of his comments, he said: “What is ... repercussions? I don’t give a shit to them.” He said the UN should have acted according to protocol by sending someone such as a rapporteur to talk to him. “You do not just go out and give a shitting statement against a country,” he said. |
| Posted by:Steve White |
| #3 He's real popular with the regular people in the Philippines who have to live with the drug addicts and criminals. Not so much with the elite who often *are* the drug dealers and criminal heads. Which is why you shouldn't believe everything reported about him in the media. He basically said that before his administration the criminals would simply file a counter-claim and the police officer would be suspended (without pay) and have to pay to defend themselves (no lawyers or repsentation was provided) which might take months or years. So why should the police enforce existing laws? Now he says the government will back them up and if they feel their lives are in danger to take out the bad guy. Basically the exact opposite of what the U.S. Justice Department is telling police officers today here in the US. |
| Posted by: CrazyFool 2016-08-22 15:27 |
| #2 How do you combat cronyism and corruption on the scale of the Philippines? he's getting the job done, its not a pretty job but he's doing it. |
| Posted by: 746 2016-08-22 13:43 |
| #1 Well, if you're going to get out of the UN club, as useless as it is, you'd better crawl into bed with China. Oh, and give up all your claims in the South China Sea. |
| Posted by: Bobby 2016-08-22 13:12 |