Philippine police to look into govt admission of drug war failures

MANILA, Feb 25 (Reuters) - Philippine police said on
Thursday they were looking into a government review of thousands
of killings in the country's "war on drugs", after the justice
minister made an unprecedented admission to the United Nations
of widespread police failures.
Human Rights Watch described Justice Secretary Menardo
Guevarra's video statement on Wednesday as an "astounding
disclosure". Guevarra said police had in many cases failed to
examine weapons and crime scenes after officers had shot dead
suspected drug dealers.
Guevarra's comments to the Human Rights Council mark the
first time the government has publicly questioned its own
narrative that the thousands of people killed in President
Rodrigo Duterte's drugs war were all armed and had resisted
arrest.
Activists accuse the government of turning a blind eye to
systematic executions and cover-ups by police in a crackdown
Duterte once warned could result in 100,000 deaths. Police deny
allegations of murder.
Rights groups and victims' families have urged the
International Criminal Court to indict Duterte for crimes
against humanity.
Police spokesman Ildebrandi Usana in a text message said a
team had been set up to "look into and discuss essential issues
raised by the secretary".
Guevarra in his statement said the ministry had reviewed
many incident reports where police said suspects were killed in
shootouts.
"Yet, no full examination of the weapon recovered was
conducted. No verification of its ownership was undertaken. No
request for ballistic examination or paraffin test was pursued,"
he said.
"In more than half of the records reviewed, the law
enforcement agents involved failed to follow standard
protocols."
Contacted by Reuters, Guevarra said he had no further
comment, but would build on his remarks "with concrete positive
action".
Duterte's spokesman, Harry Roque, said the findings "prove
that our domestic legal system is working and other institutions
should not meddle".
John Fisher, HRW's Geneva director, said the Philippines was
trying to head off an international investigation.
"If they can admit that their previous denials of police
misconduct were false, what else are they hiding?" Fisher said.