Philippines ex-President Duterte says he kept a ‘death squad’ as mayor
Al Jazeera
The former president admits he had instructed policemen to ‘encourage’ suspects to fight back to justify their killings.
Former Philippines leader Rodrigo Duterte has told a Senate inquiry that he had maintained a “death squad” of gangsters to kill other criminals when he was the mayor of a southern Philippine city.
Duterte made the expletive-laden confession on Monday as he also admitted under oath that during his time as president and as mayor of Davao, he had ordered police to “encourage” suspects of crimes to fight back and “draw their guns” so that the officers can justify the killings.
Official police records show that more than 6,000 people died during the controversial campaign against illegal drugs when he was Philippine president. Rights groups estimate that as many as 30,000 mostly poor suspects were killed by officers and vigilantes, many without proof they were linked to drugs.
The killings is now the subject of an International Criminal Court investigation for alleged state-sanctioned “crime against humanity”.
