In a common resolution (EFDD, ECR, EPP, ALDE, Greens, S&D and GUE) adopted by show of hands on Thursday 15 September, the European Parliament condemned the wave of extrajudicial killings in the Philippines.
Concerned at the extraordinarily high number of persons killed in police operations and by self-defence groups against a backdrop of the intensification of the fight against criminality and drugs, the MEPs urge the Filipino government to put an end to the current wave of extrajudicial killings and murders and to launch an immediate investigation into them. According to the Filipino police, whose figures were quoted by the MEPs, the police killed more than 1,000 suspected drugs dealers and consumers between 1 July and 4 September 2016, and arrested more than 15,000 people suspected of drugs-related crime. The MEPs also call upon the government to adopt specific and complete policies and programmes to tackle crime and corruption, in full respect of their national and international obligations and of human rights.
Firmly condemning the attack on a night market in the city of Davao in the Philippines on 2 September 2016, which left at least 14 people dead and 70 injured, the Parliament also called upon the EU delegation on the ground to closely monitor the 'absence of rule of law' situation invoked by the Filipino government following the attack. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)