A leading member of the Philippines’ senate has called for an international criminal investigation into the country’s president in an effort to stop a vicious war on drugs that has killed more than 3,800 people since June.
Senator Leila de Lima, a human rights advocate and former justice secretary, has told the Guardian that foreign intervention was the only hope of putting an end to “state-inspired” extrajudicial murders that have terrorised parts of the population since president Rodrigo Duterte came to power four months ago.
In an interview De Lima urged world leaders to consider sanctions and the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Hague to launch an investigation into Duterte and those who worked for him.
“It [ICC] should start to think about investigating already or doing an inquiry into the killings as crimes against humanity,” she said.
The senator fears for her own life after she was ousted last month as chair of an inquiry looking into the vigilante death squads targeting drug dealers and users, and her address and mobile number were made public.
Philippines senator calls for Duterte to face crimes against humanity inquiry
Here are some top controversial comments made by Duterte:
Senator Leila de Lima, a human rights advocate and former justice secretary, has told the Guardian that foreign intervention was the only hope of putting an end to “state-inspired” extrajudicial murders that have terrorised parts of the population since president Rodrigo Duterte came to power four months ago.
In an interview De Lima urged world leaders to consider sanctions and the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the Hague to launch an investigation into Duterte and those who worked for him.
“It [ICC] should start to think about investigating already or doing an inquiry into the killings as crimes against humanity,” she said.
The senator fears for her own life after she was ousted last month as chair of an inquiry looking into the vigilante death squads targeting drug dealers and users, and her address and mobile number were made public.
Philippines senator calls for Duterte to face crimes against humanity inquiry
Here are some top controversial comments made by Duterte:
- "Hitler massacred three million Jews. Now, there is three million drug addicts. I’d be happy to slaughter them."
- "Son of a whore. I will curse you in the forum." - Duterte said about U.S. President Barack Obama.
- "Please don’t order me around. … Or would you rather that I declare martial law?" - Duterte warned Maria Lourdes Sereno, the chief justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines.
- "I was angry because she was raped. That’s one thing. But she was so beautiful. The mayor should have been first." - Duterte said in April about the rape and murder of an Australian missionary by inmates during a prison riot in Davao.
- "We were affected by the traffic. It took us five hours. I asked why, they said it was closed. I asked who is coming. They answered, the pope. I wanted to call him: ‘Pope, son of a whore, go home. Do not visit us again.'"
- "I was separated from my wife. I’m not impotent. What am I supposed to do? Let this hang forever? When I take Viagra, it stands up," the president said, bragging about his reputation as a womanizer.
- "Instead of helping us, the first to hit was the State Department. So you can go to hell, Mr. Obama, you can go to hell."
- "He is a bigot and I am not." - Duterte said when asked to comment about him being compared to Donald Trump.
