A/HRC/44/22 related crimes,7 even as senior government and police officials have questioned the impact and effectiveness of these policies.8 14. This trend sharpened during the presidential election campaign of 2016, when the current President, Rodrigo Duterte, pledged to kill criminals9 and eliminate corruption and drugs in “three to six months”. 10 During his mayoral term in Davao City, hundreds of extrajudicial killings were documented,11 which, according to the Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions, bore an “officially sanctioned character”.12 1. Alleged widespread and systematic killings 15. On 1 July 2016, Mr. Duterte, on his first day in office, assigned Ronald dela Rosa, a former Davao police chief, as Chief of the Philippine National Police. Mr. Dela Rosa immediately issued Command Memorandum Circular No. 16-2016,13 launching the antiillegal drugs campaign, project “Double Barrel”. One of its components is “Project Tokhang”, designed to eradicate illegal drugs in the smallest local governance units, the barangays, through “house-to-house visitations to persuade suspects to stop illegal drug activities”. 16. House visitations raise important due process concerns, as the procedure did not require search or arrest warrants and could be conducted solely on the basis of a person’s inclusion on a “drug watch list”. Barangay officials compiled lists of suspected “drug personalities” and passed them to the police. 14 Individuals had no legal recourse to challenge their inclusion in the list.15 Police data reveal that out of 42,286 police anti-illegal drugs operations conducted in the period between 1 July 2016 and 30 November 2017, only 507 – 1.2 per cent – were based on an arrest warrant.16 In addition to the barangay lists, the President published “narcolists” of government officials allegedly involved in the drugs trade.17 17. House visitations systematically forced suspects to make self-incriminating statements or risk facing lethal force. Circular No. 16-2016 encouraged “voluntary surrender”, but only mentioned access to counsel in cases where the person had agreed to incriminate himself or herself, leaving individuals vulnerable to pressure and intimidation. Refusal of house visitation – even without a search or arrest warrant – was to result in the immediate building up of a case against the person concerned and “negation”. 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 4 For example, the former President, Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, called drug use the “enemy No. 1 of the entire Filipino people”, see 2001 Letter of Instruction No. 1. See also unsubstantiated claims in www.philstar.com/nation/2011/05/22/688117/80-heinous-crimes-drug-related-ddb-chief. Co-Chairperson’s Report, Inter-Agency Committee on Anti-Illegal Drugs, 6–24 November 2019, pp. 35–40. See also www.reuters.com/article/us-philippines-drugs-performance-exclusi/exclusive-shockand-awe-has-failed-in-philippines-drug-war-enforcement-chief-says-idUSKBN2010IL and https://pcoo.gov.ph/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/20190402-SPEECH-OF-PRESIDENT-RODRIGOROA-DUTERTE-DURING-HIS-ATTENDANCE-TO-THE-PARTIDO-DEMOKRATIKOPILIPINO-LAKAS-NG-BAYAN-PDP-LABAN-CAMPAIGN-RALLY.pdf. See https://news.abs-cbn.com/video/nation/05/25/15/duterte-criminals-tataba-yung-isda-sa-manilabay-dyan-ko-kayo-itatapon. See www.philstar.com/headlines/2016/02/20/1555349/duterte-vows-end-criminality-3-months. Civil society documented 553 extrajudicial killings in Davao between August 1998 and February 2007. See A/HRC/8/3/Add.2, footnote 56. A/HRC/8/3/Add.2., para. 39. See https://didm.pnp.gov.ph/images/Command%20Memorandum%20Circulars/CMC%20201616%20PNP%20ANTI-ILLEGAL%20DRUGS%20CAMPAIGN%20PLAN%20%20PROJECT% 20DOUBLE%20BARREL.pdf. Dangerous Drugs Board, Board Regulation No. 2 (2007), sect. 1 (a). In 2008, the Special Rapporteur recommended that this function be abolished. See A/HRC/8/3/Add.2, para. 68 (b). Petitioners v. Dela Rosa et al., notice of resolution, Supreme Court, 3 April 2018, pp. 32–33. Petitioners v. Dela Rosa et al., supplemental memorandum by the petitioners, Supreme Court, 21 October 2019, pp. 26–27. See https://pcoo.gov.ph/news_releases/president-duterte-bares-names-of-narco-politicians/.