Manila Slams UN 'Interference' Over Drug Probe Request

Manila: A UN request to send a team of rapporteurs to the Philippines to investigate deaths related to the government's war on drugs is an "outrageous interference", presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo said on Saturday. In a statement, Panelo defended President Rodrigo Duterte's crackdown on illegal drugs, which the UN says has led to over 27,000 deaths since the campaign began in June 2016.

"The 11 UN Special Rapporteurs' act of peddling a biased and absolutely false recital of facts, adulterated with malicious imputations against the constituted authorities, smacks of unpardonable intrusions on our sovereignty", Panelo was quoted as saying by Efe news. "Let the enemies of the state and their supporters from foreign soil be forewarned that no amount of destructive narratives against this government will envelop it with the appearance of pretended truth to hoodwink the Filipino people in embracing it", the spokesperson added. The group of 11 independent legal experts on Friday called on the UN to open an investigation into alleged human rights violations committed as part of the anti-drugs crackdown. (IANS)

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