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Human Rights Watch Details Harm to Filipino Children from Drug War

VOA News

   Human Rights Watch on Wednesday released harrowing accounts of the drug
   war's impact on Filipino children.

   The [1]48-page report outlines police killings of children, the
   bullying and stigma that drug users' children face, the psychological
   damage to those who have witnessed family members' deaths, and the
   resulting poverty when parents and guardians are killed.

   The HRW report followed [2]similar ones by [3]Amnesty International,
   which further detail the devastation of drugs.

   Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's crackdown on the illegal drug
   trade began with his inauguration in June 2016. His anti-drug campaign
   garnered international attention when human rights advocates uncovered
   thousands of killings and extrajudicial executions by state forces and
   vigilante groups.

   Within the first six months of Duterte's presidency, more than 7,000
   people believed to have been connected with the drug trade [4]were
   killed -- an average of 34 a day. Besides instructing law enforcement
   to rid the country of drugs, Duterte encouraged citizens to kill
   suspected drug dealers or users as a part of their "duty."

   Since then, Filipino activists have alleged that more than 27,000
   people have been killed under Duterte, while the government said the
   number was closer to 6,600. Contrasting reports and increasing concerns
   prompted the U.N. Human Rights Council to launch an investigation into
   the killings in July 2019.

References

   1. https://www.hrw.org/report/2020/05/27/our-happy-family-gone/impact-war-drugs-children-philippines
   2. https://www.amnesty.org/download/Documents/ASA3505782019ENGLISH.PDF
   3. https://www.amnesty.org.uk/files/2017-04/ASA3555172017ENGLISH.PDF?XIMTLyrMGxBcF0XA1PUpQQgeix0dpYAE=
   4. https://www.amnesty.org.uk/philippines-president-duterte-war-on-drugs-thousands-killed

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