NATIONAL POLICE Chief, General Guillermo Lorenzo Eleazar has vowed to sincerely cooperate with the Justice Department in investigating extrajudicial killings of drug suspects in the country.
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| PNP Chief General Guillermo Salazar |
Eleazar assured that the Philippine National Police (PNP) is serious in partnering with the Department of Justice (DOJ) on the investigation. He said the PNP and the DOJ are set to sign an agreement pertaining to police cooperation in the investigation.
“The signing of the agreement intends to convey our sincere intention to cooperate in the investigation of so-called extrajudicial killings in the war on drugs,” he said following a recent meeting with Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra.
Eleazar said: “I assure our good Justice Secretary that the PNP has no tolerance for rogues, including those who may have committed unjustified killings in the course of anti-illegal drug operations, and that we are serious in cleansing our ranks.”
Human right groups and families of slain drug suspects accused the police as being behind the summary killings during the “Oplan Tokhang” campaign.
Eleazar said cleansing the ranks of police scalawags is one of his priority campaigns upon his assumption as Chief of the PNP on May 8 this year.
“Our agencies are both committed to address this long-time concern on EJKs and we see this agreement as a step towards further strengthening our ties. Our willingness to open some of our records to the DOJ is already a big development in terms of our relations,” Eleazar said, adding, the PNP has allowed the DOJ to scrutinize 61 records of alleged extrajudicial killings.
“The DOJ shares the same view and understands why we only allow them access to 61 records of investigation against policemen. It is possible that, in the course of the DOJ’s probe, we can make more records available for its scrutiny,” he added.
The international Human Rights Watch said
the two developments signal possible improvement in the conduct of
the PNP, which has been deeply implicated in President Rodrigo Duterte’s deadly
“war on drugs” and other alleged abuses.
It was referring to Guevarra’s announcement that
the PNP will allow the DOJ access to the records of 61 cases in which there is
sufficient evidence to file administrative or criminal charges against police
officers.
“This could be a breakthrough. The Department of
Justice promised the United Nations Human Rights Council that it
would investigate some of these killings,” the Human Rights Watch said.
It added that in February, Guevarra also disclosed to
the United Nations Human Rights Council that police violated internal protocols
in half of the 328 cases it examined. “Since the drug war began in 2016, only
one case has resulted in a conviction of law enforcement officers. The
International Criminal Court’s prosecutor is examining whether the drug war
killings in the Philippines warrant a full investigation,” it said.
The Human Rights Watch said the second
development was the statement of Eleazar who declared as “resolved” the murder case
of a 21-year old transgender man Norriebi Tria in Quezon City recently following
the arrest of three men who are prime suspects in the brutal killing.
“These hopeful developments are all to the credit of
Eleazar, a well-regarded police official. So far, he’s been saying all the
right things, even promising to rid the PNP of scalawags,” the Human
Rights Watch said, but Eleazar only has five months left before he
retires.
“If Eleazar is serious about these reforms, he
should ensure the police’s full cooperation with investigators into the drug
war killings and take more concrete steps to hold abusive officers accountable,”
it added. (Mindanao Examiner)
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