Rodrigo Duterte promised to wipe out drug dealers when he was sworn in as the Philippines' new president last week, and many suspected criminals have been killed since then, worrying critics who are concerned about due process.
Al Jazeera reported Monday that 45 people with suspected ties to drug trafficking have been killed since Duterte has taken office. At least 29 drug and robbery suspects have been killed in the Bulacan province since Thursday, Philippines television channel ABS-CBN additionally reported.
According to The Guardian, Duterte won the presidency in a landslide election in May. He went on to threaten drug dealers during a visit to a slum in the country's capital of Manila. He stood in front of a crowd of about 500 last Thursday after taking his oath earlier in the day.
"These sons of whores are destroying our children," Duterte said, according to The Guardian. "I warn you, don't go into that, even if you're a policeman, because I will really kill you. If you know of any addicts, go ahead and kill them yourself as getting their parents to do it would be too painful."
Authorities said, according to Al Jazeera, that the suspects reportedly resisted arrest and fired on police officers.
Human rights attorney Azadeh Shahshahani told Al Jazeera that he was bothered by some of the deaths given Duterte's statements about drugs.
"The president and his subordinates should remember that the accused should be afforded a fair process in an independent court of law regardless of the severity of the offence, per well-established principles of international law," said Shahshahani, a director of the U.S.-based Project South.
CNN reported last month that before taking office, Duterte demanded the resignation of three police generals and said he wanted to give security forces the power to "shoot to kill" anyone that resists arrest.
"Do not wait for me to name you in public because I will only humiliate you," Duterte said about the police generals.
A former mayor of Davao, Duterte also put a bounty of up to three million Philippine pesos, or $65,000, on durg lords, increasing that total later to five million pesos, or $108,000.
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