Duterte says no help for UN rights probe
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said yesterday he would not cooperate with UN investigators looking into extrajudicial killings under his rule, telling police and soldiers not to cooperate with any probe.
Duterte's angry reaction came after his government said it was willing to accept a visit from a UN Special Rapporteur to look into the rash of killings under Duterte's deadly anti-drug war.
"When the human rights or whoever is that rapporteur arrives, my order to you is, do not answer... Who are they and who are you to interfere in the way I would run my country?" he told a gathering of police and military.
"If they ask you about wrongdoing, do not answer. And if they ask you why, tell them: we have a commander in chief," who they should speak to, he said.
"You're investigating us, fact finding? Well sorry, do not fuck with me," he said, referring to the rapporteur.
The Philippines' human rights record was raised at a UN Human Rights Council meeting in Geneva late February with Iceland Foreign Minister Gudlaugur Thor Thordarson urging Manila on Monday to accept a visit from the UN Special Rapporteur.
Foreign Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano later told the council that Manila was ready to cooperate, but also said the investigators should be fair and not "weaponise" human rights.
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