Three-Year-Old Girl Latest Philippines ‘Drug War’ Victim

[Mark Berkowitz]

UN Human Rights Council Should Adopt Resolution to Stop Carnage

On Sunday, a 3-year-old girl became the latest casualty of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte’s “war on drugs,” which has killed thousands over the past three years. Myka Ulpina died after being shot during a police raid targeting her father, Renato Dolofrina, in Rizal province, near Manila, media reports said. Police claimed that Dolofrina used the child as a “shield” during the operation.

Police accounts of drug raids are not reliable because the officers enforcing the “drug war” have been shown to manufacture evidence such as planting weapons and drugs to justify killings. Deceit has become the hallmark of this brutal campaign in which the authorities admit 6,600 people have been killed – other estimates suggest as many as 27,000 – because all of them, according to authorities, fought back, ignoring case after case in which witnesses say suspects were executed.

Most of those killed in Duterte’s anti-drug campaign, including the children like Myka, lived in impoverished urban areas. The United Nations children’s agency, UNICEF, was among those that condemned the July 2018 death of Skyler Abatayo, 4, and that of Danica May Garcia, 5, in August 2016.

 Then there are the children who themselves were targeted and killed, the most notorious case being that of 17-year-old Kian delos Santos, who was shown in surveillance footage being dragged away by police and was later found dead in a pigsty. Kian’s murder resulted in the only conviction so far of police officers implicated in a “drug war” killing. Child rights groups in the Philippines have told Human Rights Watch that more than 100 children have died since the campaign began in June 2016.

The “drug war” has also damaged countless Filipino children who continue to grapple with the psychological, emotional, social, and economic impact of the killings of their loved ones, who were often their family’s breadwinner. A web feature Human Rights Watch published last week underscored the devastation this campaign has unleashed on children.

The deaths of Myka and other children, as well as the thousands of adults, should prod the UN Human Rights Council to adopt the Iceland-initiated resolution that urges the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to report on the “drug war” killings and other human rights violations in the Philippines. The resolution on the table is a modest first step, but if passed and implemented it can make significant inroads towards stopping the carnage in the Philippines.

https://www.hrw.org/news/2019/07/01/three-year-old-girl-latest-philippines-drug-war-victim

[Mark Berkowitz]

This also makes me very sad, but this is what the voters got... enough said 

[Mike J]

The sad reality of war is that there will always be innocent victims.  And that is what is happening, a war between law enforcement and drug dealers.  So who is at fault, the police officer who accidentally shot the child or the parent who put his family at risk by selling drugs and then engaged in a shootout with police?  

[Ram1957]

If the UN is so worried about the drug war here maybe they should do something about it's suppliers. Are they going after the drug cartels that have killed thousands of innocent people in Mexico? Thus making Mexico a war zone. The solution is to go after these people who are supplying these drugs.

http://pdea.gov.ph/2-uncategorised/512-3-international-drug-rings-are-biggest-source-of-shabu-in-ph-pdea

[hk blues]

2 hours ago, Mike J said:

 So who is at fault, the police officer who accidentally shot the child or the parent who put his family at risk by selling drugs and then engaged in a shootout with police?  

Hopefully we can all agree on the correct answer to that question 

[Snowy79]

I wonder how many victims have been saved by the war on drugs!  I know it's going to be an open ended question as there's real evidence for or against its effectiveness, then there's the political side where even if it works the opposition will be against it. 

On my part I feel safer walking through certain areas now and speaking to locals they seem to think it's made a big difference as things have moved underground and the dealers aren't so keen to show their strength anymore. 

[hk blues]

9 minutes ago, Snowy79 said:

I wonder how many victims have been saved by the war on drugs! 

It's hard to say, but I'd guess that the numbers killed are less than those who would have become victims.  That said, one innocent victim is one too many.

[Tommy T.]

3 hours ago, Mike J said:

So who is at fault, the police officer who accidentally shot the child or the parent who put his family at risk by selling drugs and then engaged in a shootout with police? 

That makes for an uncomfortable comparison for anyone to consider. It would appear to me that both sides share the blame - but unless you are there, in person, you won't really know, right? But, agreed, totally sad for the innocent kids and any other bystanders...

[robert k]

Don't sell drugs. If a parent sells drugs, they are putting their children at risk, not society or the government.

I really don't see 17 year olds as children, just because they act irresponsible that doesn't mean they are "children". I'm fine if you want to say a 7 year old is an infant.

Edited July 3, 2019 by robert k
to add a second line.

[Kuya John]

Yes innocent victims,

Looking at the bigger picture, tragic as it is to hear of young children dieding, innocent people being targeted, bystanders being shot.

There are those who have been killed, robbed or both, to obtain the money to purchase the drugs. While I don't agree with the policy of shoot first ask questions later, from what I have heard most people feel safer since Du30's campaign started.

Edited July 3, 2019 by Kuya John