(Eagle News) — Malacañang stressed that any investigation that would be conducted by the United Nations Special Rapporteur “should have the proper consent from the state party,” as it questioned the credibility and character of UN rapporteur Agnes Callamard.
Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said that the UN Special Rapporteur system requires this “consent” from the state party.
“To those familiar with the Special Rapporteur’s system, all investigations must be consented to by state parties. And there’s no one that can compel a state party to allow an investigation if it does not want to do so,” Roque stressed in a press briefing Tuesday, Feb. 27.
Roque said that the Philippine government would prefer a more credible and authoritative UN special rapporteur to probe the alleged human rights violations in the Philippines, and not the current one assigned to do this, UN Special Rapporteur Agnes Callamard.
He said it is the state party’s prerogative on which special rapporteur could visit the Philippines for an investigation.
“If they’re going to send a special rapporteur to the Philippines, it must be someone credible, someone who is an authority in the field that they seek to investigate in, and must be objective and unbiased,” he noted.
Roque, who is also the Presidential adviser on human rights, said Callamard is not the best person to look into the killings being linked to the administration’s anti-drug war.
“As I said, the effectivity of a special rapporteur depends on their character, their credibility, their trustworthiness,” he noted.
-“Not Callamard”, says Roque –
The Cabinet official said he would definitely not recommend UN Special Rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions Agnes Callamard to conduct the probe.
Roque earlier slammed Callamard for coming to the Philippines last year uninvited, and while negotiations on the invitation required for special rapporteurs to investigate in UN member nations were still pending.
He described Callamard’s unofficial visit to the country as “an act of bad faith.”
“As I have said before, it’s her fault that the home state does not want her in,” Roque said during this Tuesday’s briefing.
He said part of the qualifications of a special rapporteur is to be trustworthy enough so that the UN member nation would consent to the investigation.
“The fact that there is no way that Agnes Callamard can be allowed to investigate in the Philippines proves that she has failed in this regard,” Roque noted. (With a Malacanang news release)