Philippines says UN rights council seat vindicates Rodrigo Duterte’s drug war
Winning a fresh 3-year term as council member shows critics of Duterte and his drug war are ‘morally corrupt,’ senior officials say
Granting the Philippines a fresh three-year term on the UN. Human Rights Council has vindicated President Rodrigo Duterte’s crackdown on drugs and shown his detractors to be “morally corrupt”, senior officials said on Saturday.
Human rights activists say Duterte’s “war” on drugs after taking office in June 2016 – since when the police have killed more than 4,800 people – made his government unfit for a seat at the body.
But the Philippines was re-elected to the 47-seat council by secret ballot at the UN. General Assembly on Friday, with 165 out of 193 votes, with one abstention.
“The president’s campaign against illegal drugs, corruption, and criminality has, in effect, been acknowledged by the international community as essential to the protection of the right to life, liberty and property,” Duterte’s spokesman, Salvador Panelo, said in a statement.
Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano said: “We are really greatly honoured as this is a vindication that fake news and baseless accusations have no place in modern-day human rights discussions.”
