(Eagle News)– United Nations (UN) special rapporteur Agnes Callamard on Wednesday (October 12) welcomed the invitation of the Palace to visit Philippines and investigate allegations of extrajudicial killings
“Welcome Media report of invitation to visit #Philippines to investigate #EJE. Waiting for the letter & confirmation by official channels,” Callamard said in a tweet.
Callamard was referring to a letter written by Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea.
“Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea said the Palace has sent the invitation to the UN rapporteur Agnes Callamard and is awaiting her response,” Presidential spokesman Ernesto Abella said.
In an earlier pronouncement, President Rodrigo Duterte invited the UN, the European Union (EU) and even the United States (US) to come to the Philippines and conduct their own probes into the drug-related killings.
In her official tweeter account, Callamard said she is just “waiting for the letter and confirmation by official channels.”
On Wednesday, Presidential Spokesman Abella said Malacanang has invited the UN special rapporteur and is also urging her to also probe the killings of law enforcers by drug suspects.
“In its invitation, the Palace also urged—and I think it is notable—the UN rapporteur to include in her investigation the killings of law enforcers by drug suspects so she could obtain an accurate perspective of the drug problem in the country,” Abella said referring to Malacanang’s invitation to Callamard.
In his letter to UN Special Rapporter, Medialdea asked Callamard to see for herself the true situation on the ground.
The President set his own conditions for the UN Special Rapporterur’s investigation of the extrajudicial killings in the country.
President Duterte said he would require the UN investigators to check also with the Human Rights Watch, and for them to ask him questions after they have done their investigations.
Callamard said she would insist on a range of measures to ensure that those who spoke with her would not be facing any retribution.
“The date and scope of the fact-finding mission will be discussed and negotiated with the government, along with essential guarantees,” she said.
Duterte has said he is willing to answer “everything under the sun” regarding alleged extrajudicial killings in his campaign to stamp out illegal drug operations in the country.
He insisted that he did not commit any crime when he threatened to kill criminals.
“You know the crime you’re accusing me must be a crime within my own country. There is no crime at all in the law books which states the President cannot threaten criminals to go out of the city,” he said.
rs/dcy/Eagle News Service