License to kill : Philippine police killings in Duterte's "War on Drugs" / written by Peter Bouckaert.

Summary -- Key recommendations -- Methodology -- I. Background -- Extrajudicial killings as "Crime Control" -- Duterte the "Death Squad" Mayer -- Duterte the "Death Squad" President? -- II. Police responsibility for extrajudicial killings and "vigilante killings"-- Legal bases for criminal responsibility -- Responsibility of President Duterte -- Responsibility of President Duterte's senior officials -- Promised immunity to subordinate commanders -- III. Prohibition of extrajudicial executions under international and Philippine law -- IV. Criminal responsibility of President Duterte and senior government officials -- V. International response to Duterte's "War on Drugs" -- The United States -- The European Parliament and European Union -- Japan -- China -- Russia -- The United Nations -- The International Criminal Court -- Recommendations -- To the President of the Philippines -- To the Philippine Congress -- To the Philippine National Police -- To the Department of Justice -- To the Commission on Human Rights -- To the Office of the Ombudsman -- To the Department of Health -- To Foreign Donors and Partners, including the United States, European Union, Japan, the World Bank, and the Asian Development Bank -- To the United States Government -- To the United Nations -- VI. Acknowledgments -- Annex I: Excerpts from police reports describing "Buy Best" police killings.

Since the inauguration of President Rodrigo Duterte on June 30, 2016, and his call for a "war on drugs," Philippine National Police officers and unidentified "vigilantes" have killed over 7,000 people. The anti-drug campaign dubbed "Operation Double Barrel" has targeted suspected drug dealers and users ostensibly for arrest but in practice has been a campaign of extrajudicial execution in impoverished areas of Manila and other urban areas. Duterte's outspoken endorsement of the campaign implicates him and other senior officials in possible incitement to violence, instigation of murder, and in command responsibility for crimes against humanity.

This report examines 24 incidents, resulting in 32 deaths, involving Philippine National Police personnel between October 2016 and January 2017. Human Rights Watch found that the official police reports of these incidents invariably asserted self-defense to justify police killings, contrary to eyewitness accounts that portray the killings as cold-blooded murders of unarmed drug suspects in custody. To bolster their claims, the police routinely planted guns, spent ammunition, and drug packets next to the victims' bodies. No one has been meaningfully investigated, let alone prosecuted, for these killings.