Why the Filipino death squads must lower their guns
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All Filipinos should speak out loud and clear against the wave of summary killings and rampant violation of basic rights by roving bands who are acting for a variety of reasons, some noble, some not.
It’s not just the rights of the dead victims, who can tell no more tales – unless via credible autopsies – that are being violated. Our rights are being trampled, too. We cannot look the other way, or wait until we too become victims.
A single big mistake, misstep or accident in any of these deadly “operations” is irreparable. But it will also totally negate whatever good intentions or objectives we have in fighting the “drug cancer” that affects all Filipinos.
The basic rights of all of us, from the most obscure shanty-dweller to a top general, are the same and must be regarded with equal sanctity. Let us go very hard on lawbreakers who threaten social order, but we must do the right thing for the right reasons at the right time in the right way.
Ephraim Cortez, Josalee Deinla, Philippine National Union of Peoples’ Lawyers
(From the Philippine Daily Inquirer/ANN)
