Public death threats against drug dealers and addicts in the Philippines aim to scare them into stop selling drugs and to discourage would-be users.
President Rodrigo Duterte openly compares his bloody anti-crime war to Hitler and the Holocaust.
He says he would be “happy to slaughter” three million addicts.
The Catholic Church in the Philippines is opposing Duterte’s crackdown.
The Church has launched a Huwag Kang Papatay” (‘Thou shalt not kill’) campaign
It has also issued an official appeal to the police.
The country’s bishops say killing on the grounds of suspicion is not morally justifiable.
Duterte issued his latest threat against drug dealers and users last Friday after visiting Vietnam.
He had been discussing his anti-drug campaign with Vietnamese leaders.
These talks looked for ways their governments could fight trans-national crimes, including illegal drugs.
Duterte said he had been “portrayed or pictured to be a cousin of Hitler,” without elaborating.
Moments later he said, “Hitler massacred 3 million Jews … there’s 3 million drug addicts. There are. I’d be happy to slaughter them.”
He was referring to a Philippine government estimate of the number of drug addicts in the country.
Source
- Crux
- Image: cnnphilippines.com
