President Rodrigo Duterte’s controversial campaign against illegal drugs in the Philippines will be the subject of a hearing at the U.S. Congress this week.
The Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission of the U.S. House of Representatives will address the issue on Thursday, July 20, hearing testimony from Ellecer Carlos (above) of iDEFEND and the Philippines Alliance of Human Rights Advocates (PHARA*), Amnesty International’s Matthew Wells, and Phelim Kine, Deputy Director of the Asia Division at Human Rights Watch
The Philippine Commission on Human Rights is investigating 680 drug-war killings, according to Reuters.
“In this country the basic problem is impunity,” Chito Gascon, the commission’s chairman, said. “No one is ever held to account for the worst violations. Ever.”
The Commission (CHR) is also investigating claims of offenses against women amid the Marawi crisis.
“We sent a team from central office — a five-woman team to look more closely into the reports we’re receiving about discrimination, statements that may not be… culturally appropriate,” CHR’s Gascon told CNN.
“The purpose is to look more deeply into… forced marriages, statements about behaving, otherwise they would be raped,” added Gascon (below).
Please join the Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission for a hearing on the human rights consequences of the ‘war on drugs’ currently underway in the Philippines.
Date:
Thursday, July 20, 2017 – 10:00am
Location:
2200 Rayburn House Office Building
*A partner of the National Endowment for Democracy.
