Police accused of being paid for drug war-linked killings in report

Feb. 1 (UPI) -- A day after Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte suspended his bloody war on drugs, an international human rights group alleged in a report published Tuesday that police are being paid under the table to gun down "drug users" who appear on government-prepared lists of offenders.

Amnesty International accused police in the Philippines on Tuesday of accepting cash payments in exchange for killing suspected drug dealers and users, with an alleged focus on the poor.

Duterte on Sunday suspended his war on drugs in order to "cleanse" police forces of corruption after it was revealed rogue anti-drug officers had kidnapped and killed South Korean businessman Jee Ick-joo.

"This is not a war on drugs, but a war on the poor," Tirana Hassan, crisis response director for Amnesty International, said in a press release. "Often on the flimsiest of evidence, people accused of using or selling drugs are being killed for cash in an economy of murder."

The drug war in the Philippines has resulted in the deaths of more than 7,000 since Duterte declared it open season on those involved in the drug trade last July. Based on interviews with 110 people around the country and an examination of 33 cases linked to the deaths 59 people, Amnesty International argues that drugs are not the only source of corruption in the war.

"Under President Duterte's rule, the national police are breaking laws they are supposed to uphold while profiting from the murder of impoverished people the government was supposed to uplift," Hassan said. "The same streets Duterte vowed to rid of crime are now filled with bodies of people illegally killed by his own police."

In the report, the organization said it found most reports of attempted arrests resulting in deaths were similar: Nearly all suspects, whether they were found buying or selling drugs, are accused in police reports of resisting arrest, often pulling a gun and shooting, leading officers to return fire in self defense.

Among those interviewed -- witnesses, drug users, police officers, members of government and victims relatives -- were stories either of people being paid to kill for the police or officers being paid to hunt individuals down. In many cases, "drug watch lists" compiled by the government and handed out to police are guiding the selection of their targets, the report alleges.

Duterte and the Philippines government have not responded to the report, but Duterte himself called the police "the most corrupt" and "corrupt to the core" on Sunday when he announced the su spension of the drug war.

On Monday, a day before the release of Amnesty International's report, Gen. Ronald dela Rosa, chief of the Philippines National Police, announced that he'd dissolved the anti-drug units, at least temporarily, in order to focus on corrupt officers.

"We will close our ranks... Then maybe after that, we can resume our war on drugs," dela Rosa said. "Rogue cops, beware! We no longer have a war on drugs -- we now have a war on scalawags."