Category Archives: War On Drugs

By Euan McKirdy and Buena Bernal, CNN Published: March 6, 2017 9:39 AM CDT Updated: March 6, 2017 9:43 AM CDT

The self-proclaimed head of the notorious Davao Death Squad (DDS) has claimed under oath that he killed almost 200 people and was paid millions of pesos -- more than $20,000 -- for his actions by Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte.

Arturo Lascanas, a retired police officer, told the Philippine Senate that DDS members received money from the then-mayor in exchange for brutal killings of not only criminals but also of Duterte's enemies in politics and the media. At the time, Duterte was mayor of the southern Philippines city of Davao.

"We were motivated by the reward system ... when a killing is ordered and there's a price," he said. On top of payment for individual hits, he said that he had for 20 years received a monthly stipend of P100,000 (around $2,000) from Duterte.

The Philippines government has vehemently denied Lascanas' testimony, calling it a "fabrication."

"Lascanas tale on (Duterte's) alleged involvement in the EJK (extrajudicial killings) in Davao is a fabrication ... there is a contradiction between his statement in the press conference and in his affidavit executed the day before he made the press conference," Sal Panelo, Duterte's chief legal counsel told CNN by text message. Lascanas also had appeared in front of the media last month.

"(Duterte) is outraged by any extrajudicial killing. Neither will he tolerate it. He abhors any violation of the Constitution or any law. Anything he does as President is pursuant to the constitutional duty of serving and protecting the people imposed on him by the basic charter."

The hearing is the first one under the Committee on Dangerous Drugs and Public Order.

Special: City of the Dead: A neighborhood destroyed by Duterte's war on drugs

Senator Leila de Lima, one of the President's harshest critics, said that she had "no doubt" that both Lascanas and Edgar Matobato, another alleged DDS member who had come forward, were "credible."

"No doubt Lascanas' testimony, like that of Matobato is credible. Both Lascanas and Matobato are actual and direct participants in many incidents of killing as ordered by then Mayor Duterte. Their testimonies are based on their personal first hand knowledge, hence, admissible and worthy of credence," she said in a statement.

"From these revelations, the hard, ugly and inconvenient truth is that President Duterte has a criminal mind as he is in fact a criminal, a mass murderer at that."

De Lima was arrested on drugs charges last month. She and her supporters maintain that the arrest is a politically motivated vendetta. She remains in detention and cannot participate in the hearings.

No tears left to cry: Voisces from inside Duterte's Davao City

In a complete reversal of earlier statements, Lascanas testified before the Senate inquiry that he was part of the infamous group, which had operated in Davao from the mid-1990s to as recently as 2013.

In a Senate hearing in October 2016, he had denied being a member of the group, refuting the sworn evidence of Matobato, who claimed in testimony in September 2016 to the Senate that he was a member of the DDS.

"There is no Davao Death Squad, your honor. That is all media hype," Lascanas said at the time.

The vigilante group was allegedly composed of men from specialized anti-crime police units as well as former militants, he said.

War on drugs: Priest speaks out against Philippines 'blood lust'

Lascanas said in Monday's testimony that he was personally responsible for the deaths of almost 200 individuals, including 30 innocent bystanders.

Lascanas said his motive for changing his story was his "desire to tell the truth, not only because of my spiritual renewal" but also because of his fear of God.

"I wanted to clear my conscience," he said. He added that he had lied in his previous testimony out of fear for his family's safety.

Killer with a conscience: Could this former death squad member bring down Duterte?

Supporters of the President say that Lascanas' testimony is politically motivated.

One senatorial ally of the President, Sen. JV Ejercito, said he cannot allow "the Senate (to) be used for any destabilization plot" but only for the sake of ferreting out the truth.

"(You might be being used) to pin down the president, this administration," Sen. Manny Pacquiao, the boxer and another senatorial ally of the President, told Lascanas.

Another pro-Duterte lawmaker, Alan Peter Cayateno, suggested the drug gangs who were suffering at the hands of Duterte's national police force were behind pushes to oust the President.

At the hearing, representatives from the Philippines Commission on Human Rights (CHR) said they will open or resume investigations on the Davao Death Squad.

"Because this is a continuing investigation, the CHR will be conducting and calling on (Lascanas and Matobato) and requesting to submit their affidavits," Commissioner Roberto Eugenio Cadiz said.

Philippine National Police Director for Investigative group Gen. Marquez said the police will open investigations of unsolved cases based on Lascanas' testimony.

"We will dig up these records and we will match and find corroborating evidence," he said.

Visit link:

The Philippine president's war on drugs - NewsOK.com

Cagayan de Oro City Police vows 'less bloody' war on drugs - SunStar Sun.Star THE chief of the newly formed City Drug Enforcement Unit (CDEU) of the Cagayan de Oro City Police Office said Tuesday, March 7, police operatives will, ... and more »

More:

Cagayan de Oro City Police vows 'less bloody' war on drugs - SunStar - Sun.Star

Why the system deals with its crack and heroin crises differently

More than a quarter of the 51,000 people in Ohios prisons are drug offenders, and the state is trying to figure out how to move some of them to treatment at the local level. In this installment of Opioids: Turning the Tide in the Crisis WKSUs M.L. Schultze looks closer at the evolution of the legal system from lock them up to get them help.

The head of Ohios prison system says the state cant afford to lock up its heroin problem. Director Gary Mohr been pushing for more treatment and transition programs in his prisons, such as the Harmony project at the womens prison in Marysville.

But he says, overall, prisons an expensive and counterproductive place to kick a drug habit.

I dont know how many articles have been written in the last six years about us sending non-violent low-level people to prison that I worsen them.

So Ohio has launched a pilot program to pay counties $23 a person a day to keep low-level offenders back home. Thats about a third the cost of a day in prison, and Mohr says community programs cut the recidivism rate in half. Mohr is also advocating to give judges more latitude in sentencing and expunging records.

They have the information about an individual. . Theyre looking at the support whether it be employer, family. Were not looking at that in Columbus.

Click here for a snapshot of Ohio's prison statistics

It would be hard to find a bigger fan of such approaches than Dr. Odell Owens, former Hamilton County coroner who now runs the nonprofit agency Interact for Health in Cincinnati. But he questions if attempts to treat, rather than incarcerate, people with drug addictions would have gained so much support without one other big change.

Ninety-seven percent of the heroin overdoses in this area are white. And unfortunately in this country, we still respond to color.

Its not just in Cincinnati. A national study in JAMA Psychatry in 2014 found nine in 10 new heroin addicts are white.

And Owens says theres a huge shift in approach since the days when crack was the dominant drug problem. You have police agencies saying Hey, you can walk in and bring your heroin and we wont arrest you. They have never said that for the crack people.

Owens says, ironically, some historic racial inequities may have made the new heroin crisis a predominantly white issue.

African Americans were less likely to have insurance when insurance routinely paid for opioid pain pills. And Owens says some doctors were more hesitant to prescribe painkillers for African-Americans. So when laws clamped down on the pills, the addicts turning to heroin were most likely white.

But the African-American community has hardly been spared from this drug crisis and is still living with consequences of the last one including mandatory minimum sentences.

No discretion for judges For Shauna Barry Scott, that minimum was 20 years in a federal prison.

When the war on drugs was launched initially, it was launched against people of color. It was done without regard for families being destroyed. Communities of color were just decimated.

'It was done without regard for families being destroyed. Communities of color were just decimated.'

She was sentenced back in 2005, for selling about 3 ounces of crack.

Some portrayed her as a significant dealer in Youngstown. Others noted she was a married mother of five, struggling to fund a charity to feed hungry kids.

She acknowledges she made a lousy choice selling the drug that was devastating her community. But if she were convicted today, her sentence would be about five years. Thats largely why President Obama commuted her time in 2015.

Now shes trying now to set up a program for those returning after long prison stays, some of the nicest, kindest most precious people Ive ever met in my life and to think about people like that being buried away in prison, what does that accomplish?

Lessons learned and a huge death toll Stark County Judge John Haas says its a mistake to read race into the shift in emphasis in the courts toward treatment. The founder of one of the oldest drug courts in the state says the system has simply learned from failures of the war on drugs.

'It was terrible and ravaging, but they weren't dying like they are with heroin.'

We have everybody and it just is not an issue. Its looking at a person whos got a problem, if they have a problem, how can we get them through it?

And court administrator, Dwaine Hemphill, says another reality of the heroin epidemic has made the shift inevitable: The number of people who are dying.

Crack and meth destroyed humans, their health, their appearance. It was terrible and ravaging, but they werent dying like they are with heroin.

What would Jesus do? Gary Mohr, the head of Ohio prisons, says it would be a mistake to believe everyone is a convert to a treatment model. He often hears some version of: Why bother? Let the addicts die.

To which Mohr bristles and points to his role model: Lukes biblical account of Christ on the cross with two criminals beside him.

The last human being that he talked with was a criminal, who was rightly convicted and he had compassion. I have compassion. And I just dont subscribe to the belief of those people being that different than I.

And Mohr maintains compassion regardless of race -- is the only way Ohio will find its way out of this drug crisis and whichever one comes next.

Read the original here:

Race, Deaths and Past Wars on Drugs: All Shape Ohio's Response to the Heroin Crisis - WKSU News

John Harold Alcober (sitting), Marvin Haub (front) and Justine Juanillas (in recording booth) in Pasay City, Metro Manila, Philippines on Feb. 15, 2017. Photo supplied

The studio for the Filipino hip-hop group One Pro Exclusive is a low-budget affair. Located in Pasay City, southeast of Manila, it consists of a sound booth fashioned out of wood, with foam packed inside to help reduce ambient noise. The booth has a window that looks out onto a room no bigger than a closet, where producer John Harold Alcober, 22, sits at a computer, queuing up songs and apologizing for the stuffiness of the dark, cramped surroundings. Alcober, who goes by the name Couz John, built the setup in his home in 2014. A curtain separates the room from the kitchen. Down a hallway, his relatives watch TV. Im sorry, for my studio is not full of air con, he jokes.

Are you ready? he asks Justine Juanillas, the 25-year-old rapper in the booth whose emcee name is Jay. Lets get it on.

Jay, who has spiky hair and a raspy, Lil Wayne-style delivery, launches into a verse from Hustisya , which means Justice in Tagalog. They can act blind / Your Eyes / But that cannot numb what I feel. The songs backdrop is the war on drugs in the Philippines, which has killed more than 7,000 people since President Rodrigo Duterte came to power in July. But the somber, angry composition focuses on the death of one victim, Michael Siaron , a pedicab driver and friend of the group who was shot dead on July 23, soon after the killings started. He was 30.

Read More: 12 Photographers in the Philippines Reveal the Drug War Images That Moved Them Most

The photo of the crime scene stunned the world with its gut-wrenching intimacy. Siarons widow, Jennilyn Olayres, cradled his lifeless body in her arms and wailed into the night. A placard labelled "drug pusher" had been left behind by the killers. But Siarons friends say he wasnt into drugs. The image, which was compared to Michelangelos La Piet, went viral . Supporters of Duterte said it was staged. To this day, however, it remains one of the most iconic photos of the drug war. After it was published and circulated, the world moved on and the killings continued. But the rappers in the neighborhood could not forget. They knew Siaron. He was their friend. They lived there and they had to do something.

I saw Michael the night he was killed, Jay tells TIME. When he died, my instant reaction was to write the song. The chorus in the music video version online replays powerful news footage of Olayres giving interviews and talking about the murder. In a country where speaking up against the drug war is not popular, and where wrongful death legal cases are virtually nonexistent, the song is remarkable. It also had a special guest: Siarons brother contributed the first verse.

The music is part of a wave of artistic responses to the violence. Much of it is taking place under the umbrella of a group called RESBAK, which stands for Respond and Break the Silence Against the Killings. In addition, a Medium-hosted blog called The Kill List Chronicles solicits protest literature in the time of Duterte. The list in the title refers to the collection of names authorities have used to arrest and target suspected drug users and dealers. One poem, published on Feb. 8 under the name Alma Anonas-Carpio, is called Dark Hours: "Sleep wont touch me now / Three men were shot dead outside / In the restive night," the first verse reads.

Siaron could sing, Jay says. Seriously, Michaels voice is like Adeles voice ... [He was] a very happy person. Joyful. Before releasing Justice on YouTube, One Pro Exclusive put out Yakap, or Embrace, which tells the story from the perspective of Michaels widow, Olayres, waiting for her husband to come home from driving his pedicab. The lyrics are poignant. Do you know/ The feeling of being left/ By someone you love/ Unexpectedly/ You said you will just take a ride/ For a while, raps Carlo, another member. The chorus, sung by a 16-year-old named Marvin Haub, or Vintrix, recalls the pain of the moment she found his body. Its as if my world shattered when I saw you/ Lifeless, I embraced you /Apparently that was the last night that I was with you.

Pasay City has been so deeply affected by the drug war that local media has dubbed it Patay or Dead, City. One of the victims was a five-year-old, shot dead alongside his father. Each night, residents fear more killings. After 12 a.m., the drug war starts, Jay says. Like many communities touched by the crackdown, Pasay is poor. As we walk to the studio through the local barangay, or township, we pass a social hall with an ongoing wake. Families who cant afford funerals hold wakes in the local social hall, because its cheaper. Siarons was here. We pass small food stands and a basketball court. Pedicab drivers line the street. Siaron lived nearby, beside a creek filled with trash and waste. The house, a shack without running water or a toilet, has been torn down and the remaining family have since moved away. It was as if his history had been erased.

Read More: This Photo Has Given the War on Drugs in the Philippines a Human Face

Raffy Lerma , the photographer for the Philippine Daily Inquirer who took the photo in July, has kept in touch with the family. One day a few months ago Olayres texted him about the group and their first song, Embrace. It was actually her telling her story, Lerma recalls. I felt like I was brought back to that night I also got emotional once I heard it, he tells TIME. I felt it again. Lerma contacted RESBAK, and in February, some of the members of One Pro Exclusive performed the songs at an anti-drug war concert and art exhibition in a slum neighborhood of Quezon City. Painters showed pieces that recreated crime scenes. Poets read from the stage. The rappers performed in blindfolds to signify the way, they say, many in the Philippines have turned their eyes away from the violence.

Though the songs have been posted to YouTube and Facebook and viewed thousands of times, One Pro Exclusive is not a household name in the Filipino hip-hop scene. Vintrix is in school while Jay and Alcober have day jobs. Asked if they were fearful about continuing to speak out, Jay says no. Im not scared. I think its scary to die. But [for me] its not an issue ... I want to be the voice of the masses.

Original post:

Their Friend Was Killed in Duterte's Brutal Drug War. So These Rappers Responded in Verse - TIME

A couple of weeks before Christmas, National Geographic's Ryan Duffy joined Filipino crime beat reporters on Manila's graveyard shift. On a tip, the American rides in a convoy of press cars to the scene of a vigilante killing.

So begins a new film on the Philippines' drug war, which airs Monday. It shows the aftermath of the first of five deadly shootings reported that night; one of over 7,000 since Rodrigo Duterte began his so-called war on drugs on July 1.

Replete with footage of bagged bodies in rain-slicked slums and relatives weeping at wakes and overlaid with the Philippine President's brutal statements on killing millions of addicts Nat Geo 's film captures in motion a world rendered by James Nachtwey in his series In Manila Death Comes by Night , and by local photographers on the frontlines of the war. Duffy's reporting from crime scene, to wake, to drug rehab center roughly follows the trajectory of Rishi Iyengar's The Killing Time .

But there's also footage of a little-shown aspect of the drug war: Operation Tokhang a portmanteau of the Visayan words for "knock" and "plead." A clip shows police sweeping through a neighborhood and apparently arbitrarily detaining residents. The film suggest that the list of "surrendered" people compiled under such operations which now counts more than 1 million members might just be a hit list.

"If you dont surrender they will kill you. But then again, even if you surrender they will also kill you, the father of a son who had surrendered and was later killed by police said in the Explorer episode.

In a December survey conducted by Social Weather Station, 78% of Filipinos said they feared they or someone they knew would become a victim of extrajudicial killings yet 85% reported being satisfied with the ongoing operations to curb drugs. It's a contradiction captured neatly here. Drug addicts are not humans, one interviewee said in support of the killings. His is a popular refrain. It comes straight from the President himself: "Crime against humanity?" Duterte has memorably mused , "In the first place, Id like to be frank with you: are they humans?"

More:

National Geographic Airs Film on Rodrigo Duterte's Drug War | Time ... - TIME

On this day in 1982, President Ronald Reagan declared illicit drugs to be a threat to U.S. national security.

On this day in 1982, President Ronald Reagan declared illicit drugs to be a threat to U.S. national security.

Richard M. Nixon, the president who popularized the term war on drugs, first used the words in 1971. However, the policies that his administration implemented as part of the Comprehensive Drug Abuse Prevention and Control Act of 1970 dated to Woodrow Wilsons presidency and the Harrison Narcotics Tax Act of 1914. This was followed by the creation of the Federal Bureau of Narcotics in 1930.

Story Continued Below

Speaking at the Justice Department, Reagan likened his administrations determination to discourage the flow and use of banned substances to the obstinacy of the French army at the Battle of Verdun in World War I with a literal spin on the war on drugs. The president quoted a French soldier who said, There are no impossible situations. There are only people who think theyre impossible.

Spreading the anti-drug message, first lady Nancy Reagan toured elementary schools, warning students about the danger of illicit drugs. When a fourth grader at Longfellow Elementary School in Oakland, Calif., asked her what to do if approached by someone offering drugs, the first lady responded: Just say no.

In 1988, Reagan created the Office of National Drug Control Policy to coordinate drug-related legislative, security, diplomatic, research and health policy throughout the government. Successive agency directors were dubbed drug czars by the media. In 1993, President Bill Clinton raised the post to Cabinet-level status.

On May 13, 2009, R. Gil Kerlikowske, the current director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy, signaled that though the Obama administration did not plan to significantly alter drug enforcement policies, it would not use the term war on drugs, saying it was counterproductive.

SOURCE: 30 YEARS OF AMERICAS DRUG WAR, A CHRONOLOGY BY PBSs FRONTLINE

Read more here:

Reagan declares 'War on Drugs,' October 14, 1982 - POLITICO

Over the past couple decades video games have emerged as powerful propaganda tools in service of the military-industrial complex. Ghost Recon Wildlands developed by Frances Ubisoft is the latest and greatest propaganda piece in service of the interminable War on Drugs, now in its fifth decade since President Nixon declared it in 1971. Set in a Bolivia turned into a narco-state by a fictional Mexican drug gang called the Santa Blanca (Holy White) Cartel, gamers assume the role of the U.S. Army special forces as they parachute into the mountains and jungles of the South American nation to liquidate the cartel. The cartels capo, awkwardly named El Sueno (Dream), is a devotee of Santa Muerte who serves as the spiritual patroness of cocaine traffickers.

While the games chief developers have bent over backwards in recent interviews to claim Bolivia was chosen for its beautiful topography and that Santa Muerte is much more than just a narcosaint, it couldnt be more obvious that Ghost Recon Wildlands is but a slightly fictionalized version of the U.S.-led drug war in Mexico designed to win over the hearts and minds of a new generation of gamers who are either ignorant of the never-ending narco-battles in Mexico and other parts of Latin America or who havent been convinced of the need to carry it on to the half-century mark.

Ubisoft developers opted to set the game in Bolivia not primarily because of topography but because of the countrys exit from the War on Drugs. Since 2008, leftist president Evo Morales has refused to cooperate with the DEA, so in the eyes of Drug War strategists in Washington, reflected in the offices of Ubisoft in Paris, Bolivia is a rogue state ripe for the taking by Mexican drug cartels. The Bolivian government has lodged an official complaint with France over its depiction in the game, which of course will only boost its sales since there is no such thing as bad publicity, especially in the gaming world.

Beyond Bolivia, Ghost Recon Wildlands takes the image of Mexican folk saint, Santa Muerte to new heights as a narcosaint. The top Santa Muerte leader in the game is a character called El Cardenal (the cardinal), a defrocked Catholic priest, who is obviously based on the real-life figure of David Romo, the self-proclaimed archbishop of Santa Muerte devotion. Romo, who appears prominently in my book Devoted to Death, founded the first legally recognized Santa Muerte church in 2003 in Mexico City, which had its legal status annulled after less than two years of operation under pressure from the Catholic Church. A harsh critic of both the Church and its political ally, the conservative PAN (National Action Party), Romo was arrested and convicted in 2011 for being part of a kidnapping ring in Mexico City that targeted elderly victims. Hes currently serving a 66-year sentence while his wife runs the struggling house of worship.

Another prominent character connected to Saint Death whose notorious nickname Ubisoft didnt even bother to change is El Pozolero (the stewmaker) who also appears in my book. Santiago Meza Lopez was a Tijuana-based cartel hitman who claim to have dissolved some 300 of his bosss males enemies in vats of acid. A warped sense of chivalry spared female victims from the deadly liquid as Meza Lopez preferred to kill women in more humane ways.

As the leading expert on Santa Muerte, the fastest growing new religious movement in the Western Hemisphere, Im the first to recognize the role she plays as real-life narco-saint to some Mexican cartel members. However, the real Santa Muerte also has a robust following among all levels of Mexican law enforcement, especially municipal police officers who are on the front lines of the drug war. So in reality Santa Muerte is patroness of the Mexican Drug War in its totality, providing spiritual protection to both the cartel sicario and the local cop. This reality, of course, is obscured in Ghost Recon Wildlands where the saint of death is an evil malefactress who only protects members of the Santa Blanca Cartel. In short, by vilifying both Bolivia and Santa Muerte while turning gamers into members of U.S. Army special forces, Ghost Recon Wildlands proves a powerful medium for perpetuating the interminable War on Drugs.

More:

'Ghost Recon Wildlands' Goes to Battle in the War on Drugs - Huffington Post

Police in the Philippines are falsifying evidence to justify war on drugs killings that have caused more than 7,000 deaths of mostly poor Filipinos, according to a new Human Rights Watch report. President Rodrigo Duterte has been accused of crimes against humanity for the deaths, and the human rights organization urged the United Nations to create an independent, international investigation into the killings.

The 117-page report found the Philippine National Police have been carrying out extrajudicial killings, claiming self defense. They planted guns, spent ammunition, and drug packets on their victims bodies to implicate them in drug activities, according to the rights group.

Dutertes war on drugs is meant to target drug pushers or drug lords, but human rights charitiesincluding Amnesty Internationalsay those affected either had low-paying jobs or were unemployed and living in poor areas in big cities.

Try Newsweek for only $1.25 per week

The war lost momentum in January when South Korean businessman Jee Ick- joo was murdered by rogue policemen and Duterte decided to halt the extrajudicial killings. Now, despite concern from international organizations, Duterte is committed to renewing the war on drugs.

At the groundbreaking ceremony for the Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway in Cordova town, Cebu on Thursday, Duterte announced that he is committed to stopping drugs.

This means there will be more killings because (criminals) really fight back. It won't end tomorrow, he said , according t o national newspaper PhilStar.

In the same speech, Duterte warned 6,000 policemen that he knew they were involved in the drugs trade. You will die. Either you kill me or I kill you,the president said. Duterte told his police chief Ronald de la Rosa that he could restart his war on drugs as before, on the condition the policemen he used had integrity.

Dutertes drug war is a widespread, systematic attack directed against any civilian population, says Dr. Pauline Eadie, an assistant professor of social sciences at Nottingham University. Technically it is a crime against humanity. These killings are often cited as self-defense but that is just not credible. The police are at the very least complicit in these killings, and they have the remit to operate without sanction.

She adds that although drug dealers cause users misery, it is not OK to ignore the rules of law when dealing with the problem. The answer to the problem is [dealing with] widespread poverty. Large sections of the community see Dutertes war as a necessary evil.

Edward Sentorias, a jobless father of three, was framed by the police, according to Human Rights Watch. A close relative saw the policeman place a gun and some sachets by Sentoriass body. I went back to where I was, and was totally shocked, the relative said. I couldnt even complain. If we go complain, what is our chance against the authorities?

See original here:

Phillipines Policemen Falsify Evidence in Duterte's War on Drugs: Human Rights Watch - Newsweek

MANILA, Philippines The Commission on Human Rights on Friday urged the government to continue its war against drugs but without resorting toOplanTokhang.

"The Commission on Human Rights denounces the resumption of Operation Tokhang by the Philippine National Police," CHR said in a statement on Friday.

It added that the Philippine National Police should only reinstate the operation when concrete reforms have been introduced and after serious investigations into the extrajudicial killings have been made.

On Monday, President Rodrigo Duterte said that he is open to the resumption of Oplan Tokhangless than a month since the Philippine National Police suspended anti-drug operations over the death of a Korean businessman allegedly abducted and killed by rogue police officers from an anti-narcotics unit.

"I dont know. I would leave it to the PNP to decide. What do they need? What do they have to do to succeed? I do not meddle in the mechanisms there. What is important for me is finish it, do it, I do not inquire into how, where, what," Duterte said on Monday.

Tokhanginvolves police going to thehouses of people on a list of alleged "drug personalities" and telling them to surrender or be arrested. Surrenderees are made to sign an admission of their involvement in drugs and a promise to stop. Concerns have been raised on the accuracy of the drug lists.

Tokhang has also been associated with more than 7,000 deaths in the war on drugs. Around 2,500 of the deaths were in police operations while the rest have been blamed on vigilantes and drug syndicates killing potential informers. Some of those killed were on the drug lists and had surrendered to authorities.

He added that it will be up to the PNP to decide whether to resume the operation or wait for a few months despite reports indicating a rise in sale of illegal drugs on the streets.

PNP Director General Ronald dela Rosa, meanwhile, said that the resumption of the operation would still depend on the president.

"If he sees that we (PNP) are done with our internal cleansing, that we have cleansed our ranks and we are ready to take on the war against drugs, then maybe and hopefully (he will revive Tokhang)," Dela Rosa said during a speech in Zamboanga Citys 80th Charter Day celebration last Sunday.

CHR however said that the internal cleansing of the PNP has just begun and has not yet produced concrete results.

Police officers, whom the PNP leadership described as scalawags, were ordered transferred to Basilan. But some of the police officers questioned their inclusion on the list, saying their administrative records were clean. Other police officers did not show up for the transfer.

"No true and meaningful investigation has been concluded on the extrajudicial killings yet and worse, no single person, to date has been held to account," CHR said.

It added that the killing of South Korean national Jee Ick-Joo inside the PNP headquarters in Camp Crame only shows that Oplan Tokhang is "susceptible to abuse" by police officers.

CHR said that it stands up for the victims, both accused and innocent, who were denied due process.

"It (CHR) advocates for the rights of every single person, including every policeman or policewoman who deserves a day in court before being meted with sanctions including death," CHR said.

Link:

CHR: Continue war on drugs but drop 'Tokhang' | Headlines, News ... - Philippine Star

Coast regional coordinator Nelson Marwa has said intimidation will not derail him in the fight against drugs.

Marwa said barons started issuing threats after President Uhuru Kenyatta issued an order for drug dealers to be arrested and possibly extradited.

But he said he won't be deterred by the threats as his actions are informed by a good cause.

"I'm ready to put my life on the line," he said on Friday, adding drug dealers were on the brink of elimination.

"How can you fight a legitimate government? It does not add up," he added.

[VIDEO] Kenya will eliminate drug barons wiping out Coast, Uhuru warns

Read: State closing in on drug-dealer politicians, Kiraithe warns

Marwa said they had devised a strategy to completely weed out drug lords at the Coast and Kenya at large.

"The first strategy is to cut off demand by taking addicts to rehabilitation. This will disrupt supply and force dealers to seek other markets," he said.

The regional boss also said assets belonging to barons will be confiscated.

"The war is neither personal not general. It is specific," he said, adding that arrests were based on intelligence.

He also asked politicians to join the war on drugs, saying it must be won.

[VIDEO] Joho wanted suspected drug baron released, was not arrested, says Marwa

More on this: Police probe Joho link to alleged drug trade by kin

Marwa accused ODM bloggers of being behind claims that he had been transferred and called for their arrest.

"My supervisors are surprised. One is not transferred through social media," he said.

Marwa spoke at NYS, Miritini, after inspecting the rehabilitation centre to be officially commissioned by Uhuru.

The centre that sits on a 13-acre plot will have fully-fledged sports and health facilities and a learning institution. It is expected to house 1,500 addicts.

About three weeks ago, Marwa said Kilifi had more than 329,000 addicts and Mombasa more than 323,000.

He said Kwale followed with 168,000, Tana River with 88,000, Taita Taveta with 58,000 and Lamu with 32,000.

After Uhuru's order, 17kgs of heroin and Sh18.4 million cash were nabbed in Mombasa.

The crackdown was carried out by detectives who were behind the arrest and extradition of four suspected drug traffickers to the US.

Baktash (40) and Ibrahim Akasha (28) and foreigners Vijay Goswami (Indian) and Hussein Shabakash (Pakistani) were flown to New York on January 31.

They were arrested in Mombasa for conspiracy to smuggle heroin and methamphetamine into the United States.

[VIDEO] Five more suspected drug barons arrested, Sh18m cash, Sh170m heroin found

Original post:

Marwa steps up war on drugs, shrugs off 'death threats' by barons ... - The Star, Kenya