Bodies Pile Up in Duterte’s Deadly War on Drugs: QuickTake Q&A – Bloomberg

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March 15, 2017, 5:18 PM EDT

Rodrigo Dutertes deadly war on drugs has resumed. TheU.S., the European Union and the United Nations have all condemned the Philippine presidents crackdown on suspected dealers and users, serving only to rile the expletive-prone lawyer-turned-politician. The reaction at home so far appears less critical, even supportive, while a senator who led a backlash has ended up in jail. Duterte suspended anti-drug operations in January, but the hiatus is over and the death toll is rising again.

More than 7,000, according to Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International. The government says thats an exaggeration, with police reporting about 2,500 fatalities in the seven months through Jan. 30. That was the date when Duterte removed policefrom the operations afterrogue officers were implicated in the murder of a South Korean businessman. Of some 4,700 other murders that human rights groups labeled extra-judicial killings (meaning they were committed by vigilante groups), police say less than a third were drugs-linked. Either way, Duterte has brought about more loss of life than former president Ferdinand Marcos during his eight years of martial rule and Thailand during its war on drugs that began in 2003.

Dealer, users, drug lords -- anyone connected to the illegal trade. Duterte estimates there are as many as 4 million drug addicts in the Southeast Asian nation of about 100 million people. The Dangerous Drugs Board puts the tally at 1.8 million, with crystal meth -- known as shabu -- the No. 1 scourge for Duterte.As part of the campaign, police say they have made 7 million home visits to persuade suspects to mend their ways.

They support the campaign more than the methods. Eight out of 10 Filipinos polled in December were satisfied with Dutertes anti-narcotics drive, although that was before a Senate investigation brought to light police abuses. On the other hand, 78 percent of Filipinos worry that they or someone they know may die in extra-judicial operations. Nine out of 10 Filipinos think drug suspects should be caught alive.

The 71-year-oldhas termed narcotic use a pandemic and promises to pardon police officers who are convicted of killing drug suspects in self-defense. He accuses critics of valuing the lives of criminals over the good of society.Debunking allegations that he is engineering a human rights calamity, Duterte has said: When you kill criminals, that is not a crime against humanity. The criminals have no humanity, God damn it.

A national police chief said the renewed campaign -- called "Project Double Barrel, Reloaded -- will be less bloody, if not bloodless.At the same time, the military has said it will act as a force provider to the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency. Barely a week after the campaign resumed March 7, police said law enforcers had killed 27 drug suspects in 679 operations.

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Amnesty International says the poor have been targeted disproportionately, while Human Rights Watch has appealed to the UN to investigate. Then theres Leila de Lima, the senator whos now in jail. She was indicted for drug trafficking in February and accused of allowing illegal drugs to flourish inside the national jail while serving as justice secretary. De Lima says the charges are lies and her arrest was politically motivated. The lawmaker had led a Senate probe into alleged vigilante killings by death squads in Davao City from the 1980s. Duterte, who was Davao mayor for more than two decades from 1988, says testimonylinking him to the death squads was a fabrication.

Duterte campaigned to make fighting crime a cornerstone of his government, vowing to stamp out illegal drugs within six months. He now says he may spend the rest of his presidential term on the job because the situation is worse than he had thought.A former Colombia president has warned Duterte that throwing soldiers and police at the drug problem will only make it worse. Thailands experience of using force also does not bode well, but Duterte is unbowed. I have six years to do it and I will kill you, he said.

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Bodies Pile Up in Duterte's Deadly War on Drugs: QuickTake Q&A - Bloomberg