Roque adds Voice VS Killings

OFFICE OF REP. HARRY L. ROQUE
PRESS RELEASE
05 AUGUST 2016

ROQUE ADDS VOICE VS KILLINGS

Kabayan Party-list Representative Harry L. Roque on Friday called for law enforcers to investigate the growing number of extra-judicial killings and prosecute the killers in the government’s on-going campaign against illegal drugs.

“The government cannot stand idly by while unidentified gunmen ride as marauding parties in the streets, killing people with impunity. This gross negligence by the State is tantamount to supporting impunity and smacks of lack of public accountability,” Roque said, reiterating his privilege speech last Monday.

“It is the obligation of the State to investigate and prosecute the killings under international law. The State has a legal obligation to provide effective remedy to the victims and their families. Such remedy is denied them when the government stands idly by while killers roam the streets to kill at will,” he added.

Roque said while he supports the government’s war against drugs, he underscored it should not forget to respect and protect human rights and follow the due process of law.

“As a lawyer, President Duterte should know better than to sacrifice human rights in the pursuit of what he calls the end of crime,” he said.

The neophyte lawmaker called on law enforcement officials to investigate the killings, saying the government should not condone vigilantism.

“It is alarming that only three days since its last update, the Inquirer has tallied 59 additional deaths in its Kill List, now totaling 524. The number of deaths by vigilantes and unknown hitmen has also ballooned to more than 200,” he said.

“You kill someone without due process, you deprive him not just of his right to live, but of all of the other rights to which he is entitled,” Roque previously said in his privilege speech.

Roque, a practicing lawyer before he was elected into Congress, maintained all accused are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

“Due process is enshrined in our Constitution. Section 1 Chapter II of the 1987 Constitution states that no person shall be deprived of life, liberty or property without due process of law, nor shall any person be denied equal protection of the laws,” he said.

In his privilege speech, Roque said “the State is the primary domestic institution charged with the task of ensuring the promotion and protection of human rights.”

“States are the principal parties to human rights instruments as well as to international humanitarian law conventions, and are therefore the principal institutions charged with implementing them in their respective jurisdictions. Thus, the failure of the state to comply with its obligations under the same treaties is a breach of its obligations and engages its responsibility under international law,” he said.

“It is the institution of the State as a public legal community that plays a lead role in ensuring that the demands of public justice and the common good are best served within its jurisdiction,” he added. “This is because the state’s law enforcement and prosecutorial arm for protecting and promoting public justice and the common good in the domestic legal order sets it apart from other societal institutions; only the state is the immediate institution in the domestic sphere entrusted with the legal duty – backed up with the force of arms – to protect and promote the Rule of Law.” END